Ghost Monk

          Half an hour later, the sound of soft slippers drifted through the house as Eiri made his way from the bathroom to his study. He toweled his hair dry as he went, a cigarette already dangling from his mouth despite the shower having stopped only moments before. Wisps of misty smoke drifted around him then trailed behind as he made his way into the room. The tell-tale squeak of a computer chair and the sound of tapping keys emerged from the study, making it clear that the surly author had gone back to work, intent on ignoring the singer completely.
          The pink-haired man, having been abandoned into cleaning up the kitchen table, had done so with a lot of dark muttering. He was now miserably curled in the blanket on the couch and cursing the blonde for his condition. "Four fucking times! I know that the cake thing turned him on, but it's not like he was hard up for it! He'd just had the twerp Kami knows how many times at the shrine while I was stuck outside!"
Finally pulling his head from under the couch pillow, Kitazawa listened as Eiri made his way into the study. Good! That meant he could take a shower too, now that his plaything was finished. As much as Eiri smelled nice, he didn't want to get stuck with his novelist's twisted fantasies, ones he probably helped instigate. He needed Shuichi's body functional!
          Moving proved to be a big mistake if the way his ass was sending him messages of being a giant dumbass for trying was any indication. Setting his jaw in firm stubbornness, Kitazawa forced himself up and immediately pulled the blanket off of the couch, nose wrinkling at the already rank-smelling fabric, as he brought it into the laundry room, he dumped it into the washer along with the other clothes that were beginning to pile up and the current bedsheets, having replaced them during his cleanup. It made more sense for him to do it now, rather than when he was clean, as well as making sure Eiri didn't catch him too soon.
          Currently, the ex-tutor held the advantage of stealth. Once he turned that shower on, he had to be extremely careful to avoid detection. The work was boring and tedious to be sure, but it allowed his neat-freak tendencies some leeway, as well as helped him to familiarize himself with the natural rhythms of Shuichi's body. Task done, Kitazawa snuck his way into the bathroom, turning on the shower hot enough to fog the mirrors within moments, something that Shuichi almost never did, unless he was thoroughly stressed.
          At the sound of the shower, the typing had paused then resumed a moment later, almost as if Eiri was making sure where his koi was and what he was up to. No doubt there had been a moment of mental cursing over the fact that he'd kept his study door open, almost an open invitation for genki pouncing. Kitazawa smirked at that idea, half tempted to do just that, if only to annoy the fuck out of his ex-student.
          Common sense won and he stepped into the shower, closing his eyes and tilting his head back, slender fingers stroking through the strands of pink hair with a sigh of pleasure. After a few moments, he stepped forward and reached for the shampoo, eyes widening as he stared at the bright pink bottle of shampoo which could only be Shuichi's. "You've got to be kidding. I should've taken over after the kid had taken a shower...."
          Forcing himself to pick it up, he took a whiff of it, unable to suppress the shudder resulting from the sickly sweet fragrance of imitation strawberry as he poured some into his open palm. Putting the bottle back onto the shelf, he mentally resigned himself to his fate: smelling as if he'd spent the past four hours in a store that could only be the bastardized child of Bath and Body Works breeding with Sanrio.
          Once his hair was clean, albeit pretty smelling, the ex-tutor set about washing his body, going at it much slower than he'd done with his hair. Feeling every contour, curve of muscle and patch of skin, he finally realized what Eiri found so fascinating in touching the singer so much. His fingers hit a particularly sensitive spot and he gasped at the reaction his body produced. Waves of tingles shot through him, originating at the point of contact and ending there once more, causing him to moan involuntarily.
          Deep within his mind, he could feel a stirring, a token mote of protest from the body's true inhabitant. Quickly suppressing it, unable to cope with the amount of feeling Shuichi could produce, Kitazawa proceeded to clean himself rapidly, done within the next few minutes. Drying took even less time and he scurried to the bed, not even bothering to find something to wear.
          Within moments of closing his eyes, Kitazawa released his tight control of Shuichi's body, sinking into the subconscious for awhile, which allowed him to fall into a deep sleep.

~~~~~
          Two hours after that, Eiri finally saved the file he'd been working on then, making sure the laptop was password-protected, changed the code again just in case Tohma or Shuichi got any bright ideas to try hacking it again. This time he'd chosen a password taken out of an obscure Brazilian dialect, having looked up several words out of an online dictionary for the sole purpose of passwords. He'd used a computer at a net-cafe near Tokyo University, which was the perfect spot to do so, since it ensured his brother-in-law couldn't track down his surfing habits and figure it out.
          Closing the laptop and locking it in the desk drawer, another quirk he'd picked up since Shuichi and Tatsuha had started trying to use it, Eiri finally stood, allowing himself an almost indecent stretch. Realistically, Shuichi could’ve gotten himself a dozen laptops for himself, and a dozen more for Tatsuha without his bank account breaking a sweat. It was the thrill of trying to piss him off that kept them going. Too bad it didn’t work. Running his fingers through his bangs, Eiri snuffed out the stub of his cigarette and shuffled out of the office, tossing the empty beer can into the wastebasket to join the multitude of its brethren.
          "The brat's been too quiet, better make sure he hasn't fucked up anything yet." he muttered to himself, giving a cursory check of the living room and kitchen areas before heading towards the bedroom. "That little punk better not be sick. If he gives me whatever he's got, I'll fucking kill him."
          Pausing at the doorway, Eiri leaned his forearm on the pale frame, staring at the lump comfortably curled in his BEST silken sheets. The brat had picked his BEST sheets to cuddle in and part of him bristled at the innocent intrusion. He'd gotten more female ass on those sheets than he could remember and it bothered him that it was SHUICHI now laying on them. No panting, no begging for him, nothing but a young man tucked up like a child, trusting Eiri to behave himself, as the novelist stared at the glimpse of Shuichi's face he could see between blanket and bangs.
          "Fuck." Eiri finally hissed through his teeth, turning from the sight and taking solace in doing something mundane as putting his watch and wallet on the dresser. He'd be DAMNED if he'd be chased from his own bed. 'Again', flickered through his mind for a moment, before being cruelly squashed. Another thought occurred to him as his shirt slid from his torso, revealing a smooth expanse of his back, to dangle limply in his fingers. Where was that damned ghost? Shaking his head to clear it, Eiri changed his clothes, muttering, "The farther away he is, the happier I'll be."
          Tossing the clothes into the hamper, he slid into bed next to Shuichi, shoving the lump from the center of the bed to his own side. Over the years, Shuichi had finally managed to claim a six-inch sliver of the bed as his own. Most of the time, Eiri would neglect the fact that Shuichi would always wind up having taken more room by morning. Shuichi made a soft noise in his throat, turning over to immediately cuddle up to Eiri like a kitten, tucking his nose under the arch of jaw under his ear.
          With a long drawn-out sigh, Eiri knew it was going to be a long night, but tried closing his eyes anyway. More tired than he realized, he was asleep in moments, oblivious to the faint smirk tilting one corner of Shuichi's lips upwards.

~~~~~
          As night fell, the twinkling lights of the city reflected off of the many windows at N-G Records. Yet a figure was still there, despite several irate phone calls from Mika, all having to do with a night spent searching in futile effort for her wayward brother. Tohma Seguchi sat at his desk, hand curved around his pouting mouth while the other patiently pressed several buttons on the remote it held. Another press of a button, and the tape began to play again, showing all of Eiri's movements as he was alone in the room.
          Turning towards the clock, Eiri had frowned then moved sideways, and back again, as if he couldn't see the clock. The novelist's eyes had looked up, then widened before he scooted back on the bed, whimpering. Finally, after another moment, the young man had screamed, a shriek of pure terror mingled with a childish nightmare.
          A few more things happened after that, including Eiri snuggling up to a bottle of 180 proof scotch whiskey, finishing it off as he muttered to himself and to an empty spot next to him. Then Eiri had passed out for the night.
          Skipping forward, the tape then revealed the next morning, when Eiri broke another clock. Tohma chuckled at the image, shaking his head. Once the clock was broken, his eyes had snapped open and slowly raised his head from under the pillow to stare at another empty space, beginning to whimper again. However, it was the dialog that was the most troubling.

“How are you here!? You’re dead! I killed you! I killed….” Tears began to sparkle in Eiri’s eyes. “Please, just leave me alone. Haven’t you done enough to me?” His voice had cracked.
“T-This time?” Eiri’s eye was beginning to develop a tick.
“The idea had passed my mind. Frequently. Yes.” Eiri grumbled.
“STOP IT!” shouted Eiri. He pulled himself off of the floor and, barely leaving time to grab his essentials, he tugged his overcoat on over the pajamas and all but bolted for the car.

          The blue-green eyes narrowed as they tracked Eiri's movements, cold and calculating. They missed nothing and what they saw upset him greatly. He sank further into the part of himself which he hid behind the smile. The more cheerful the smile, the more dangerous he became. He didn't like the idea, but it was time for another 'appointment' with the psychiatrist. Perhaps there was even time for a few days of 'rest'.
          K sat in the chair across the desk from Tohma, studying the president instead of the tapes, having seen them before bringing them to his boss’s office. For all of his gruff bravado and daredevil stunts, there was only one thing he was afraid of, and it had just appeared on Seguchi's lips. The sight of that smile caused him to do whatever it took to get him away from THAT line of fire. A soft noise broke him out of his musings.
          "K-san."
          "Yes, Tohma?" K responded instantly, keeping himself lazy as he stretched, watching Tohma's full attention get caught.
          "I want you to pick up Shindou-san tomorrow morning. Early." Tohma said, that slow smile still in place. "They have a concert in a few days, the boy could use his time most effectively here at N-G." Separating Shuichi and Eiri never ceased to amuse him.
          Knowing what Seguchi was up to, K merely nodded, rising from his seat. "I'll do that. If we're going to be busy tomorrow morning, we should get some sleep." He finally gave Tohma a smile of his own, admonishing, "Even the president needs to sleep, especially if said president's going to be novelist hunting."
          Tohma stared at K for a moment, shocked and slightly annoyed at the insinuations. Then he let his eyes half-close as he smiled at K in return, that creepy polite smile, rising from his own chair. "By all means." He motioned towards the door with his upturned palm. "After you."
          Immediately going into defensive mode, K gave Tohma a suspicious glance at his boss's sudden acquiescence. Keeping half-turned towards Tohma, he nodded and made his way to the door, never giving him an easy opportunity.
          Tohma, feeling better now that K was off-balance, merely locked his door after they'd stepped out into the corridor. For a while, he'd thought of not bothering to lock it since Noriko and Ryuichi always managed to pick the lock, but he continued the habit anyway. All the kamis knew that he didn't need Bad Luck wandering into his office uninvited.
          Clasping his hands behind his back, aware that the move always made K skittish, he murmured, "6AM early. Good night." He made no move to leave, waiting for his manager to leave first.
          K nodded his agreement and finally turned to go, heading off. He was given a job to do, he would see it through.
          Turning himself, Tohma made his own way out of the building, avoiding most of the public areas in case there were stragglers. Despite the highly irate wife awaiting his arrival at home, he headed there almost cheerful.