Just Friends

There was only one word for what Chitose was feeling right now. Jealousy. It was an irrational, ugly thing, based on a snippet of conversation over the phone and nothing at all tangible.

"Have you heard of Tezuka Kunimitsu?" Tachibana's voice had been completely unreadable.

"Yeah," Chitose had replied, "I've heard of him."

"He's in Kyuushuu recuperating from his arm injury. Do you think that you can check up on him the next time you go home to visit your family?"

Chitose's breath had caught in his throat. Kippei, he had wanted to say, why are you so interested in Tezuka Kunimitsu? "Yeah, sure. It'll give me the chance to check this guy out for myself."

"I'm home!" Chitose called out as he made his way through the door of his house, unceremoniously dropping his large duffel bag onto the floor. "Is any one in?"

He could hear a racket in the kitchen and could smell something burning, and logically deduced that his father was cooking something. Sure enough he was, his lumbering frame hunched over the small oven, short hair and beard in typical disarray.

"Senri!" his father beamed at him when he stepped into the kitchen. "Are you finished with school already?"

"No," Chitose said, coughing at the clouds of black smoke that were filling the air. "I just decided to take a vacation. Does mom know you're cooking?"

"It's a surprise," his father replied, running around as he pulled out pots and pans, "don't tell her."

Wherever his mother was, Chitose certainly didn't want to be there when she found out his dad had been cooking again. "Yeah. . . where's Miyuki?"

"At school?"

Chitose looked at the clock, which read six o'clock. "Try again, Dad."

"I'm sure wherever she is she's having fun," his father replied, pouring some. . . mayonnaise? into the soup pot. "And that's the most important thing."

"Okay. I'm going to go look for her."

"Have fu~un!"

It's not like it would be hard to find her. Miyuku was more obsessed with tennis than Chitose had ever been, a facet of her personality that Chitose blamed squarely on Tachibana.

It was a familiar path to Miyuki's favorite tennis courts, one that Chitose didn't even have to think about as he walked towards them. Kyuushuu was warmer than Kansai, spring coming earlier to the island prefecture. Chitose was just glad to be able to wear a thinner style tunic and his geta sandals again, enjoying the sharp noises they made as he walked.

Soon enough he came to those familiar courts. He flipped the latch on the chain link door, coming to stand inside the shaded confines of the courts, seeing his sister's tiny frame almost immediately.

"Miyu-" but then he realized she wasn't alone.

Speak of the devil, he thought, remembering that there was a pretty famous physical rehabilitation center just a block away from these courts. He had only seen photographs and video before, but there was no mistaking it. The uncharacteristically unkempt hair, that stern expression. . . way too serious, Chitose thought, for a kid their age. But then Miyuki was looking up and noticing him.

"Oni-san!" she yelled, her baseball cap falling off as she ran to hug her brother. She all but attached herself to his arm, pulling him towards Tezuka. "Aniki, you have to meet thief-bro."

Chitose raised an eyebrow at that. Thief-bro?

"I've been teaching him how to play tennis," she said, right before Chitose found himself standing in front of Tezuka Kunimitsu.

So this was the guy Tachibana had been worried about. He was good-looking, Chitose had to admit, tall and well built, eyes glaring slightly behind his glasses. Chitose wondered if Tezuka's eyes always looked like that.

"You must be Tezuka," Chitose said, reaching out his hand.

Tezuka's handshake was firm against his palm, and he nodded. "And you must be Chitose Senri."

"The one and only." Chitose grinned. "I'm flattered you've heard of me."

But Tezuka didn't say anything back to that, just stood silently in front of him. He didn't seem to be the type to speak when unnecessary, but Chitose didn't mind. It gave him the opportunity to study the planes of Tezuka's face, the curve of his lips. What exactly was it about this dull guy, Chitose asked himself, that had Tachibana so interested? Some kind of darkness, in the pit of his stomach, and Chitose wanted to find out. He raised a hand, brushing Tezuka's hair out of his face, the backs of his fingers brushing against surprisingly soft skin.

Tezuka's eyes weren't glaring anymore. They widened, minutely, in surprise, head jerking back.

"You had a leaf in your hair," Chitose said by way of explanation, his hand still in the space that Tezuka's cheek had just vacated. He hadn't missed it, that deep flush that flared on Tezuka's cheek for just an instant, before disappearing again.

Miyuki was looking back and forth between them, curious. "Eh? You know thief-bro, oni-san? Why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh, that," Chitose said, dropping his arm as he smiled. "Dad's cooking dinner tonight, so I thought I'd treat my cute little sister to McDonalds."

"McDonald's?" Miyuki asked, eyes lighting up. "Sweet!"

"Hey, thief-bro," Chitose said to Tezuka, "why don't you come with us?"

"No," a short pause, and then, as an afterthought, "thank you."

"Suit yourself," Chitose said. "I'll see you later, then."

But Tezuka was already walking away, so Chitose left too, Miyuki skipping to keep up with his longer strides.

The next day Chitose dragged his bike out of the garage, thinking it would be a good change of pace from his usual walks. Plus, on his bike, it only took him about five minutes before he got to the rehabilitation center that Tezuka was, presumably, staying in. Chitose skipped up the steps of the building, hoping he hadn't come at an inopportune time.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu," he said to the woman at the reception desk, a young nurse who couldn't have been older than Watanabe. She smiled warmly as she checked the records, and Chitose used those few moments to scan the building. It was only slightly less sterile than an actual hospital, swathed in grays and blues, the furniture a cheap kind of plastic and pleather.

"Room 1-5," the receptionist said. "He should be finished with his morning session."

"Thank you," Chitose said, smiling at her before he started to make his way down the hall.

Tezuka's room was fairly close to the front lobby, just around a bend in the hallway. When Chitose got there the room was empty, so he went in and made himself comfortable on the bed. There was some kind of outdoor travel magazine folded neatly on the nightstand, and he flipped through it as he waited for Tezuka.

"Chitose?"

Chitose looked up to see Tezuka standing in the doorway. He wondered if the other boy was surprised at all to see him; if he was, it wasn't registered on his face.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?" So curt as to be almost impolite, but Tezuka did have some sense of etiquette. Chitose could practically see the gears in his head turning, see him suppressing his desire to tell Chitose to get out right then and there.

Chitose only sat up on the bed and shrugged. "Kippei asked me to make sure you were okay, so I'm here to make sure."

"I'm fine."

"How's your shoulder healing?"

Tezuka's hand moved upwards, coming to rest on the injured shoulder. "It's healing fine."

"Is it really so awful having me here?" Chitose asked, chuckling. "I came all this way, you could at least sit down and talk."

Tezuka was thinking again, on the edge between compliance and rejection. In the end he must have chosen the former, as he started taking small steps forward. There weren't any chairs in the small room, and the only place to sit down was next to Chitose on the bed. The mattress shifted under his weight, and he sat with his shoulders straight and stiff. Tense, Chitose thought.

"Do you always do everything Tachibana asks you to?" Tezuka asked.

"Yeah, pretty much, actually."

Tezuka gave him a questioning glance, but apparently wasn't interested in pursuing the matter. "What exactly did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know. How you're liking Kyuushuu. How your tennis training is going. School, gossip, weather. Although you don't really seem like a chit chat type of guy, huh?"

There was a short, measured silence before Tezuka answered. "I'm generally not one for small talk."

"Yeah, I see." Chitose leaned forward, closer, noting that Tezuka looked away just a little bit as he did so. "Is it okay if I look at your shoulder?"

He didn't wait for an answer, and besides, it was the flimsiest of pretenses anyway. His hand reached up, pressing against Tezuka's shoulder, their proximity now too close to be ignored. Tezuka's breathing completely stopped at the initial contact, then came back, just a little bit more irregular, a little bit faster than before. A subtle shade of pink had blossomed on his cheeks.

So surprisingly responsive, Chitose thought, fingers moving slowly towards the collar of Tezuka's shirt. Just a little touch, a little body heat. He found himself wondering what kinds of expressions a dull guy like Tezuka would make if they were to have sex, what noises he could lull from those lips.

Chitose's fingers wrapped around Tezuka's collar, gently pulling it to the side, knuckles brushing hot skin. Underneath the stoic exterior, Chitose noted, Tezuka was just as hormonal as the next guy.

"Tezuka-kun."

Chitose could see every muscle in Tezuka's body freeze up, and he dropped his hand. He looked up to see a nurse smiling in the doorway.

"Tezuka-kun," she said, "lunch is being served in the dining hall now."

"Thank you. I'll be there soon."

The nurse walked away, and Chitose watched Tezuka's cheeks return to their normal pale hue. Before Tezuka even got up Chitose was on his feet, walking over to where Tezuka's cell phone was laying on the dresser.

"What are you doing?" Tezuka asked.

"Calling myself on your cell phone," Chitose said, already entering the numbers onto Tezuka's keypad. "Shishigaku is having a festival on Friday, and my sister wants you to go with her. You don't happen to have a yukata with you, do you?"

"No."

"In that case you can borrow one of mine." Chitose smiled. "I'll pick you up at seven."

At approximately eight o'clock on Friday night, Chitose found himself walking two steps behind Tezuka, who was dressed in a white and blue yukata. Miyuka, in her own purple yukata, was hanging off of Tezuka's arm, immensely enjoying his attention. Every few seconds she'd exclaim something like "Thief-bro, look at this!" or "Thief-bro, win me a stuffed animal!" She was already carrying an oversized bunny and a dolphin, with some takoyaki sticking out of her hand.

Chitose chuckled quietly to himself, before deciding that enough was enough.

"Miyuki," he said, "isn't that Sakura over there? Don't you want to show her all the things Thief-bro got you?"

"Oh yeah! Sorry, Thief-bro, I have to go. Thank you for the lovely date!"

Chitose almost laughed to see Tezuka's eye twitch at that.

"Date," he finally said, his tone of voice pretty much summing up his feelings on the matter.

"If I'm not careful," Chitose said, barely able to conceal his snickering, "you'll be stealing my little sister away from me soon."

"I'm glad you find this so amusing," Tezuka replied.

Chitose sped up momentarily to fall into step by Tezuka's side, so that the two could walk by all the food and game stalls together.

"You look good in that yukata," Chitose remarked. A casual, off-handed remark, but one that made Tezuka catch his step. And then, a non sequitor. . . "You had fun with Miyuki, right?"

Chitose wasn't sure if Tezuka would admit it, and was pleasantly surprised when Tezuka answered with a soft noise of affirmation.

"It's okay to smile every now and then," Chitose teased, not surprised when Tezuka didn't respond to his comment. They walked down a row of stalls before Tezuka said anything again.

"Why are you doing this?"

Chitose shrugged. "Does it matter? Aren't you having a good time?"

"That's not the point."

It seemed as though Tezuka was going to say more, but they had come to a stop. Chitose had been leading them here ever since he had distracted Miyuki. They stood in front of a wooden equipment shack on the school grounds, set half a soccer field away from the lights and noise of the festival.

"Kippei and I used to come here when we skipped classes," Chitose said, opening the door and walking inside. One he was in he headed to the shelf and the bottle of sake he had stashed there earlier today, pulling it out along with two cups and setting it all on the floor. He kneeled behind them and gestured for Tezuka to sit.

Tezuka closed the door, and the sounds of the festival were just a low rumble now, indiscernible white noise. "What makes me think that you were a bad influence on Tachibana?"

Chitose laughed at that. "I don't know what side of Kippei he's been showing you, but he's not exactly a saint."

Tezuka sat down, and Chitose set a sake cup in front of each of them before pouring.

"I don't drink," Tezuka said.

"It's a sin to waste good sake," Chitose replied, his eyes locking onto Tezuka's. "And this is extremely good sake."

The straight-laced ones were usually the ones that surprised you the most, in Chitose's opinion, so really he wasn't surprised at all when Tezuka took the cup and started drinking it. He stifled the chuckle he felt when Tezuka initially cringed at the taste, but soon the other boy had his face schooled back into its usual non-expression. Chitose picked up his cup and downed it in one gulp, reaching for the bottle so he could refill both their cups.

"What exactly," Tezuka started, "is your relationship with Tachibana?"

Chitose froze for a moment, but then continued to pour the sake. He decided to just stay quiet for a moment and see where Tezuka's line of questioning would go.

"If you're interested in me because you think Tachibana is, that's not the case." Tezuka was staring at him, watching him closely, and it figured that Tezuka would be that perceptive.

"Maybe I'm interested in you for my own reasons," Chitose said, and it was true, at this point. "Maybe Tachibana has nothing to do with it."

"At any rate, your rivalry with him isn't any of my business."

"It's not really like that," Chitose replied, and that was absolutely the truth. Even when this had been about Tachibana, his emotions weren't as simple as rivalry.

"Besides," Tezuka continued, "Tachibana is dating one of his kouhei."

A pang, through his heart, and his vision blurred a little bit.

"What?" His voice was so quiet he wasn't sure if had had said it our not, and maybe Tezuka was confused now as he blinked at him. Chitose couldn't tell. Breath, he told himself. His head was somewhere else but then he was pulling himself back to this shack, sitting on this wood floor, with Tezuka. He reached for the bottle, refilling their cups again. He forced himself to chuckle and say something inane. "He always did go for the younger guys."

Apparently it was enough, because Tezuka just nodded and lifted his cup to his lips. But Chitose could feel it again, that darkness inside of him that he hated, welling up in his stomach. Pathetic. He felt completely pathetic. But Tezuka was right there in front of him, face flushed red from alcohol, and Chitose was sure that he was reading him exactly right.

Chitose reached forward, one hand reaching to remove Tezuka's glasses, the other taking Tezuka's sake cup out of his hand and dropping it on the door. And then Chitose's lips were on his, pushing them together in a long, urgent kiss. Tezuka's lips, Chitose decided, were surprisingly soft, a trace of sake still on them. He tried to let any residual anger dissipate into that kiss, and then their tongues were intertwining, even as he pulled apart the folds of Tezuka's yukata.

"Chitose," Tezuka panted, breathing labored, "do you have-"

"Yeah," Chitose replied, one hand reaching into the folds to wrap around Tezuka's already hard cock. "Don't worry about it."

Tezuka's breath hitched at the touch, and he trusted his hips forward. But Chitose was spreading the yukata a little bit more, and then Tezuka's cock was exposed to the air, curving upwards past the fabric. Chitose continued to jerk him off as he used his other hand to pull out some lube and a condom.

"Hey," Chitose said, "do you think you could get on the counter top?"

Tezuka nodded, and they disentangled for a moment as Tezuka climbed onto the table and leaned back, his ass just on the edge. His yukata was falling off his shoulders, his whole lower body exposed. Chitose took a moment to appreciate the view as he poured lube out onto his fingers. He didn't waste any time after that, though, and pushed two fingers deep into Tezuka's hole.

Tezuka threw his head back at the abrupt penetration, legs spreading even wider as Chitose continued to fuck him with his fingers. He wrapped a hand around his cock, jerking himself off as those fingers thrust in and out of him.

"Chitose," he said, his voice taking on a throaty tone that Chitose hadn't thought he was capable of. "Hurry up. I want you inside of me."

Chitose shivered at the unexpected words. Always the straight laced ones. . .

"Yeah. Sure." He pulled his cock out of the folds of his Yukata, taking his fingers out to slide a condom on. He positioned himself in between the other boy's legs and pushed forward, feeling Tezuka ease open around his cock. Soon he had pushed himself all the way in, and both of them were sweaty and panting.

Chitose placed his hands on the table, one of each side Tezuka's head, and pulled his dick almost all the way out before slamming it back in. Tezuka arched at the almost violent movement, his legs coming up to wrap around Chitose's waist.

"How's that?" Chitose asked, pulling out and thrusting back in once again, but Tezuka was too busy moaning to answer. Chitose was building up a rhythm, really slamming into the other boy as he fucked him. The table banged against the wall with every thrust, and it wasn't long before Chitose came, vision blurring as he felt his semen shoot into the condom.

When he came down from his orgasm Chitose felt a vague sense of embarrassment that he had come so soon, and pulled his cock out to kneel down in front of the table. His hand replaced Tezuka's on the other boy's still hard cock, and then his tongue was diving inside Tezuka's hole, twisting as he pushed it in as deep as it would go. Tezuka was practically shouting now, and his cock twitched in Chitose's hand as he came, white streams shooting out onto his yukata.

It was a few moments before their breathing evened out, and then they were moving, albeit slowly, to make themselves presentable again. To be honest, Chitose was disappointed. He had been planning an altogether different kind of sex for the two of them, slow and hedonistic. He had wanted to see just how many expressions and noises he could coax out of someone like Tezuka Kunimitsu. And it had turned into something else entirely, just because of Tachibana and some small tidbit of information.

"Hey," Chitose said, "let's go back to my place. It'll be more comfortable than falling asleep here."

"What about your family?"

Chitose shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"If you don't think so, then it doesn't."

It didn't take long to walk back to Chitose's house. They stumbled into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as they hit the mattress.

The next morning Chitose was the first one to wake up. He wasn't sure if he was surprised or not; sure, Tezuka seemed like he was usually an early riser, but Chitose was fairly certain that the other boy had never been drunk before in his life. At any rate, the house was silent, and he figured every one in his family was out. Which suited him just fine.

Tezuka woke up about half an hour later. Chitose was sitting on the floor then, leaning against the bed as he flipped some magazine and contemplated how pissed Tezuka would be if he lit up a bowl. But then he heard Tezuka stirring underneath the blankets, and looked over to see blood-shot, half-opened eyes.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"If this is how people feel the morning after drinking, why do they do it?"

Chitose chuckled at that. "Do you want breakfast?"

Tezuka's face turned green. "No."

"Are you sure? Food and water generally help hangovers, you know."

"No. I'm certain."

"Suit yourself," Chitose said. He reached his hand to brush over where Tezuka's morning erection was tenting through the blanket. "Do you want to fuck me?"

A long pause. "Don't be vulgar."

"Don't tell me you're too hungover for morning sex," Chitose said, making a mental note that sometimes sake wasn't really the best way to go about things. "Do you want me to suck you off?"

An even longer pause. "Yes, please."

Chitose grinned as he climbed back into bed.