Ghost Monk

          
Dawn filtered the reddish hue of the sun across the futons within the shrine as birdsong trilled through the crisp wintry morning air. Soft sounds of chanting could be heard from the Shrine area as Uesugi-san performed a ceremonial rite to a couple in mourning. He would’ve made Tatsuha do it normally, since it was one of the more simple routines, but the boy was still out-cold from the previous night’s events. Mika and Tohma were still asleep as well, after Mika had retreated into her room to reassess the situation and adjust her battle plans accordingly.

          
Then there was Eiri. Well, he wasn’t even going to go there.



          
Shuichi shifted in his sleep, frowning slightly as if he were deep in thought, or had tasted something that didn’t sit well with him. With a faint moan, his hand brushed across the space where Eiri had been not too long before, expecting to find warm skin under his questing fingers. The futon was cooled which was very strange, considering his lover was definitely not a morning person. There’ve been countless times where he’d gotten tossed to the floor trying to wake up the nocturnal novelist. He’d learned to pick his battles carefully since then.

          
Finally opening his eyes a sliver, cringing at the light that pierced his headache, he found the older man sitting in the place he’d found him the day before. Out on the veranda Eiri sat with one leg propped up, causing the folds of his kimono to pool around his crotch, exposing a pale thigh to Shuichi’s view. Staring blankly out at the yard before him, he absently took pulls of the cigarette he held, when he seemed to remember its existence. Finding him in this position once was disturbing enough, but twice in twenty-four hours? And after the night they had had? On the heels of that thought, Shuichi couldn’t help the instinctive shudder as his mind brought back a few images from the previous night.




~~~

          
Unable to make any promise with her headstrong brother, Mika had started an all-out fight between Uesugi-san, Eiri and herself. Tohma tried to interject now and then while Shuichi and Tatsuha watched the theatrics with sickened amusement. Until Mika turned her attention to Shuichi, once more starting to bash and abuse him, arguing that it was his fault that Eiri’s shell against her had gotten stronger.


          
Shuichi had then argued back, standing up for himself fully for the first time in their relationship. The woman’s eyes widened and even Tohma had stared at him in shock, while the Uesugi men chuckled behind their backs. Eiri then made his traditional snide comments, before making his way to his room once more. The ghosts, meanwhile, were having the time of their lives. They were taking sides and placing bets on who was going to win the argument.


          
Mika came out of her stupor to drag him back, which caused his anger to finally snap. Shoving her against a wall, eyes blazing bright with his checked fury, he snarled that he was handling his situation and she was NOT making it any better. Growling under his breath, he muttered, “Go home.” Then he turned to walk away from her yet again. She tried to reach for him once more but Tohma, recognizing the signs in his brother-in-law, held her back for her own good. “Let him go.” Eiri proceeded to drag Tatsuha and Shuichi off to binge drink the night away, with Eiri and Tatsuha beginning to discuss how an exorcism works and how he’d go about doing them. Then he cursed at the fact that he’d actually have to practice at it for a bit before any of his results would be effective.

~~~




          
Now that the alcohol fog had lifted from his brain, Shuichi began sorting the pieces of the puzzle out, not liking the outcome he was producing. Eiri could now, if accounts were to be believed, see ghosts. That would’ve been bad enough, but the singer knew that Eiri would’ve dealt with that problem the same way he’d dealt with him. Ignored it and the ghosts as well. But Eiri hadn’t done those things. Eiri was radiating hurt and vulnerability, so much so that he’d run here, to the Shrine, yelling about pedophiles when Shuichi himself showed up.

          
Two plus two. Once in a rare while it managed to make itself add up to four.
Violet eyes widened as Shuichi breathed a single name, “Kitazawa-san.” Managing to extract himself from the comforter, the young man padded over to Eiri, calling out, “Yuki?”

          
Smoke curled around Eiri’s head twice before he decided to answer, his voice chilly, “What do you want this time?”

          
“Yuki, I … ” Bucking up his courage, Shuichi knelt before his lover, eyes shining with love and concern. “I want to help you with this. If Kitazawa-san’s…”

          
“Don’t you DARE say anything about him. You have no fucking clue!” Eiri exploded, restraining himself at the last minute before he damaged Shuichi more than he’d have liked. “That’s none of your business.”

          
“But Yuki, you’re in pain! I only want to help you! Why won’t you let me help!?”

          
The golden eyes narrowed as the cold shell of indifferent bastard fell into place. “Didn’t I tell you at the gates? I’m fucking perfect.” Grinding out the cigarette, he picked it up and headed inside. “Get your clothes. We’re leaving in five minutes.”

          
Watching Eiri walk away from him again, Shuichi managed to force himself out of crying, even as his heart ached for his taciturn novelist. “Hai, Yuki.”



~~~

          
Five minutes later found the two of them standing in the courtyard to the entrance of the Shrine. The only person who was awake other than them was Uesugi-san and the ghosts, several of which helped their descendant out by distracting his father. Currently, the head of the household could be found chasing after the floating pack of cigarettes on the other side of the Shrine.

          
One snag remained. Neither of Eiri nor Shuichi had come by car, and it was a long walk to the train station. Then, Eiri hit on a brilliant idea, and he flashed Shuichi a thoroughly smug tilt of his lips in rare mischief. It was a look that Shuichi got rarely, and never failed to cause his heart to beat heavily in his chest, wanting to pounce the man and ravish him thoroughly.

          
Striding over to Tohma’s car, the blonde revealed a bit of the Punk Yuki that had grown up rough and on the streets after the incident in New York. Lifting its hood, he took all of two seconds to hotwire it, looking thoroughly satisfied with himself as he then jimmied the lock on the driver’s side. “Well? You walking to Tokyo?”

          
“But Yuki, if we take this… won’t Mika and Tohma…”

          
“They’ll be stuck taking the train.” Eiri answered, climbing into the car and shutting the door. He would give Shuichi to the count of five to get into the car before he stranded him as well.

          
Knowing that he would, Shuichi scrambled to get his ass into the passenger side before Eiri peeled out of the Shrine, with the hope that the old guy with the sword was still keeping Kitazawa busy. He didn’t know yet that the ghost was still traveling back there. “They’re gonna be pissed when they get up and find us and the car gone.”

“Tough shit for them.” Eiri replied evenly, keeping his eye on the road and out for stray ghosts. His tone wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t quite friendly either, meaning he wanted his space. “We’ll call Tatsuha when he wakes up to drag his ass to Tokyo tomorrow.”

          
Giving in to Eiri’s moods, Shuichi turned to stare out the window, giving up the argument. It was just easier that way. “Okay, Yuki.”



          
When they were an hour’s drive closer to Tokyo, a shriek echoed through the Shrine, followed by cursing more colorful than Shuichi’s hair. “That fucking arrogant, ungrateful bastard! I can’t believe he took the damn car and stranded us here!”

          
“The early bird catches the Porsche?” Tohma asked, secretly amused at the turn of events. It was proving to be a most entertaining encounter.

          
“Shut it, Seguchi!”

          
Only Tatsuha got the faintest of clues that the Shrine’s resident specters were laughing their asses off at the latest turn of events. He sat there with a faint smile on his face as he ate his breakfast, murmuring, “Like sand through your fingers…”