Transaction

Disclaimer: Blah.

Author’s Notes: This is, officially, the worst day of my life. I went running around today trying to find a job, got tapped from behind by an idiot. No damage to the car, thank god. All that crap just for an application. I fell asleep at a movie I really wanted to see because I've been staying awake to try and keep everything going here, and I came home to a chewed up pair of heels and clothing, courtesy of the dog. So, even if I did get an interview, I don't have any decent shoes to wear now. Lovely.

So, this is pretty much the highlight of my day. Awesome, I know.

Enjoy.
~~~
Transaction

Chapter Thirty-Six
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The new contract had yet to disturb anything so far as product went, and Taki was soon back to work and forgetting about it. He forgot to worry about a call from Tohma at any moment, and he forgot to worry about issues of 'ownership.' It didn't seem important as things began to move.

They had photo shoots to do for the new CD, a press conference little over a week, songs to record, and Haido's hand was only now beginning to heal. Taki did, however, keep an eye out for hints of a relationship between Haido and Kenji, things that might have to be kept under control.

Much to his shock, hints went in the opposite direction. Kenji spent more and more of his time around Keiko, and once when they'd been leaving the building for lunch, Taki had noticed something a little peculiar on his way back to the studio. Kenji and Keiko were close, he knew that, but close enough to walk with their arms around each other, and no hint of a joke in the air?

Something was going on, but within moments, Taki was distracted by possible covers being shoved at him.

Tohma watched Taki mostly, though he did notice Haido being quiet and keeping to himself. Mostly, he looked as though he were deep in thought and not downcast as before, though the wounded look wasn't hid well if at all when he watched Keiko and Kenji walk out together arm in arm.

Keiko sighed as she sat down across from Kenji in a noodle place near by.

"Kenji, you can't hide forever," she told him, though he'd heard it for the last week straight. "Wouldn't it be best to talk to him about it? Fix it. Tell him how you feel maybe?"

He probably wouldn't, but it didn't stop her from trying.

Looking up from the menu in front of him, Kenji frowned. "I did tell him." He sounded like a pouting child, a sure sign that he believed he had had this conversation a few too many times, and was no longer inclined to go through it again. "And he told me not to say it, so I won't."

He didn't want to listen to himself be shot down again. He heard it quite enough, every time he thought back and tried to see why it had gone so wrong. Kenji wasn't entirely stupid, he knew it was his fault, and that he should have waited...

But Haido didn’t have to shoot him down like that. He tried to distract himself, whether it was with Keiko, or work, he was beginning not to care. They had just gotten out of a photo shoot an hour before, the upcoming press conference was making Kenji nervous, and just barely a month away...

Their first concert. Even thinking about it made his stomach flip.

"No, Kenji," Keiko sighed, getting agitated. "I mean, tell him how you feel about what happened."

It wasn't that she didn't like having Kenji around. She loved Kenji dearly, but he just didn't seem to understand the concept of personal time. Or, basically, time when Keiko should kick his ass for being around. She just didn't have the heart to tell him to back off.

Now she was resorting to good old female advice. The mushy kind, too. Keiko was pulling out all the stops.

Setting down the menu, Kenji shook his head. "It doesn't work that way, Kei." And he sounded very sure here, because if it had worked that way, he would have already done it. But he had watched enough to know that it was a useless practice, and he wanted about to set himself up on a platter so Haido could throw him away.

He wouldn't do it.

Everything about his expression was stubborn, and Kenji glanced down at his menu again. "What do you want to get?"

Changing the subject, a fail safe way to stop talking about what he was determined to avoid.

The screams from the restaurant were easily ignored as Keiko had finally snapped on Kenji. The table flipped and her chair was thrown at his head. Food scattered, as did people, and she had Kenji knocked to the floor.

And then Keiko proceeded to try and knock some sense into Kenji.

"You can pay, darling," Keiko sneered at the mess that was now Kenji as she walked out. "Don't be late to practice."

Huh. The nerve of him! He was just making excuse after excuse for why he shouldn't go and have anything to do with Haido. Little brat. He needed to grow up.

Kenji groaned, rolling onto his side. He'd forgotten how much damage Keiko could really do. She'd only gotten one good hit to his face, and he knew he would have one hell of a black eye in a few hours. His stomach felt like ground beef, and he was sure he'd hit the back of his head on the ground.

Someone was offering him help up, but he pushed himself to his feet without it. His body throbbed in unison, and he put money on the table despite the fact that they hadn't ordered anything.

Payment to ignore the ruckus, he supposed.

He felt like limping as he dragged himself to the NG building. Right. Not late for work, but he had to get to the bathroom to see what she'd done to him.

Keiko stormed into the building and practically punched the buttons on the elevator. She was so pissed at Kenji! Maybe she had gone a bit overboard this time. After all, she did leave him there a bit roughed up.

No, she was not going back for him. When the door whispered open, she blew past Haido who dodged her and rushed to catch the elevator she vacated. He just stared at her retreating form until the doors blocked his vision. He went down to the lobby and made his way to the restroom.

Haido was a bit odd sometimes. He did prefer an unusual amount of privacy in a bathroom, and his options were limited in a public restroom. The lobby one was of the few places that didn't have a lot of traffic.

He opened the door and caught sight of someone leaning over a sink. Not really his business... until he caught sight of who it was in the mirror.

"Kenji?"

Well, it explained Keiko.

He'd been trying to investigate the damage to his eye when the door open, and Kenji jerked as he heard his name, poking himself hard in the eye. Squeezing it shut, he jumped back from the mirror, cursing loudly.

His visible eye narrowed and glared at Haido. This wasn't what he needed. It really wasn't. He didn't like getting beat up, not to this extreme, and he didn't want to see Haido. It was two negatives, and while two negatives were supposed to make a positive, Kenji hated math, too.

Three negatives didn't make a positive, and he dared anyone to fucking prove that they did.

"What?" He snapped, bruised eye aching at the press of his hand. It didn't feel deep, but it would be sore and purple for a few days. This wasn't the first time Keiko had given him a black eye, he was just glad she wasn't wearing her lethal rings. Those hurt more then this did.

Well, it really was Kenji, that much was proven. And he had seriously taken a good beating. Keiko must've been really angry this time. Haido frowned and moved forward, looking him over.

"She got you good this time," Haido said, reaching up to move his hand away from the bruised eye. "Ow," he hissed, looking it over.

He stepped away, turning on a faucet, cold. Taking some paper towels, he soaked them, wrung them out and folded them neatly. He went back to Kenji and leaned up on his tiptoes to press the make shift compress to Kenji's eye.

Batting away Haido's hands, Kenji stepped back and pressed the wet paper towels to his eye himself. "I don't need your help." He grumbled, glaring at Haido with the eye that wasn't trying to seal itself shut.

Conveniently the eye covered by red hair. He shook it from his face, the scowl that was revealed the very same one that made him look like a child, the set of his lips and the way he clenched his jaw. The hurt scowl, untrusting and cynical.

He didn't know how to treat Haido anymore, not when everything was fresh, and this... This wasn't helping him. His stomach still hurt from where Keiko had hit him, and his heart still hurt from where Haido had hit him, too, but they were too different kinds of hurt.

And a hurt Kenji was a volatile Kenji.

Haido let his hands fall to his sides and roll into fists as he held his breath and count to ten. It didn't work very well. He didn't understand why Kenji was acting this way. It didn't help that Kenji would never explain anything, just act how he felt he should.

Well, it wasn't exactly great that Haido was oblivious to what he'd done so completely wrong. He knew that he might've stepped a line or two, but not clear on what.

"You need someone's help," he growled. "Keiko isn't exactly doing well for you."

Alright, he was a little hurt at the tabloids too.

"At least I know what she'll do to me." Kenji pulled back the wet paper towels, squinting at them before pressing them back to his eye. "She's consistent, and that might leave me with a few bruises, but those at least go away."

All said with the intent that Haido was the opposite. And, to be fair, some of it was true. Kenji didn't know what Haido could do to him, and only minutes... minutes after...

No, Kenji would rather stick with the physical hurt then the emotional. He knew how to deal with the physical pain, he got it enough from Keiko. But now he had the opposite from Haido, physical care, but emotional tatters.

He didn't know what to do. He was in waters he couldn't stand in now, and he'd never learned how to swim.

Haido slipped his hands into his pockets to keep himself from doing something he would regret later. His eyes narrowed and his head lowered slightly and he wound up pouting a little. Kenji struck a nerve, and hard.

But, now Haido had a little insight to what was up with the other man. He'd apparently hurt Kenji. Now it was all down to how. Again, he had a feeling it might've been one of those heat of the moment mistakes, but Haido didn't go on hunches.

"So, even though she'll beat you senseless, you'll go back to her?" he asked through tight lips. "Is that it? I've lost you to her and I'm not sure why. But you'll take a beating from someone you've known for years rather than try and talk to me about whatever is going on? Why? Because you’re unsure?"

He took a deep breath and his legs felt shaky. He'd never been confrontational. So when it rarely happened, his body argued with him.

Kenji's free hand was fisted so tight it hurt, and his hair fell into his eye again as he glared. "Shut the fuck up, Haido." He surprised himself with the flatness of his voice, the monotony. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

He wanted to hide now. Yep. Right now, because there was a large part of him that didn't want to drive Haido away. But it wasn't that part that was controlling his mouth, it was that part that was keeping him still, instead of locking himself in a bathroom stall.

He would have done that already if it would have helped.

Ultimately, the problem boiled down to one thing. Kenji's simple inability to talk about it. He couldn't say what Haido did. He wouldn't. He would rather dodge around the problem then say it again.

"You're right!" Haido cried out, removing his hands from his pockets to throw them up, exasperated. "I have no idea what I'm trying to talk about! And why? Because you just up and left without a word and started dating Keiko? Out of the blue just decided to up and date your best, abusive friend? Well, pardon me for being a little more than confused about the whole situation. Pardon me for trying to figure out what the hell I did wrong!"

He slammed a fist down on the edge of a sink and gripped it tightly. He was lightheaded and his legs quaked as his breathing came in short bursts.

"But, you know what?" he said, taking a deep breath and smoothing himself out. "I guess I'm sorry, Kenji. And not for whatever I've done, for getting involved with you."

He took the time to glance at his watch and look in the mirror before turning away.

"See you at practice, Sonoda."

"What you did wrong?" Kenji's voice was low, and the warm paper towels hit the bathroom floor with a wet slap. "You don't remember?" His voice was growing in incredulity, and he shook his head. "I can't fucking believe you."

He was going to lock himself in a stall after this, and give himself a swirly. But, in a different bathroom. Maybe a different building entirely.

He was livid, though, and couldn't make himself move. His hands were shaking, and his eyes were so narrow they may as well have been slits. Then he shook his head, as if he'd made up his mind. "No, you won't. Go to practice, and let them know I've had enough. I'm going home."

And he moved, shouldering roughly past Haido and out the door. He'd known. But what good did knowing beforehand do him? So what if it was likely this could tear apart the rest of his life. He didn't give a shit anymore, as long as he never had to look at Haido again.

Haido was knocked into the wall as Kenji shoved passed, and that was it for him. When the door shut, he slipped to his knees and didn't move until his legs stopped quivering under him. He couldn't exactly play dumb anymore, now could he?

He'd fucked up big time on this one.

Getting to his feet, he just barely saw Kenji before he left the building and got picked up in the foot traffic outside. Now it was time to break the news.
~~~
Author's Notes: Not much to say on this chapter. Obvious tension between our couple. And a new side to Haido! Well, I couldn't keep him a quiet nobody, and I guess I really did break character with him. But it's always the quiet ones, y'know? They tend to blow up, too. This is really where Haido becomes a person in this story. He was still a background character, through all 35 chapters. He really starts developing from here on out as a characters.

Guess I had a bit more to say than I thought. Sorry.

Drop us a line.

~Subby