Transaction

Disclaimer: Opium is ours. Nothing else.

Author’s Notes: Okay, so my mom and uncle came down with something flu-like, and I wasn't going to get it. But I did. SO... I'm taking some rest time for this story, and instead working hardcore on the sequel with Kel while I'm laid up. She can put up with drowsiness and sporadic replies. I'm not sure how long this will take, but I'd give it another two days. My uncle had it and this is his third day and he looks to be doing better.

Anyways, looks like I got the second job too. Awesome, now I just have to find the work ethic! o.O I know.

Enjoy a little random moment outside of Tohma and Taki's drama.
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Transaction

Chapter Forty-Seven
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She didn't want to hear this. She didn't need to hear this. For the love of anything completely sane and utterly rational, shut him up! Keiko grunted a response as she leaned to one side, buttons clicking audibly on the game controller.

Then she tuned into Kenji on accident and was brutally murdered on the TV screen.

"Goddamnit, Kenji!" Keiko shouted, throwing the controller down on the floor like a spoiled brat. "You know the rule: I don't care!"

When it was time to plays games, she didn't give a shit. But now, taking a deep breath, she looked over at him, rolling her eyes apologetically.

"Alright... hurry up and gush before I decide to play again."

The look on Kenji's face was the little kid pout. He was obviously toying with the idea of waiting for Keiko to pick up her controller again to start, but he obviously thought better of it. She'd thrown those at him before, and they hurt.

"We went to a convention!" Kenji told her with a bright smile, one that completely erased all signs of the pout. "It was a yaoi convention, though, and he was soooo embarrassed."

Kenji felt very much like a crushing school girl, and he was playing it up because he knew it annoyed Keiko, and that was simply the goal of his life. "I've never seen anyone turn that many shades of red. And yesterday, he took me to get a piercing."

Honestly, Kenji had been nervous. His ears still hurt, because he just wasn't used to having two holes in them. He planned to add more later, but he had to wait for these to be healed first. "He asked me at least twenty times if I was really sure I wanted to get it done."

It had made him laugh, actually. He'd been sure for years, but Haido couldn't know that. Kenji still wasn't sure how Haido had found all of this out, but... He'd question it later. For now, he wanted to forget that he was angry and enjoy their week.

"Lemme see," Keiko demanded, leaning in and tilting his head this way and that and pushing his hair aside to look at the piercings, muttering about infections and evil people sticking needles and things. "Alright... you are cleaning them, right?"

They looked fine. Perfect in fact. A light red, but that was normal. But still, she had to nag at him for something. Finally she sat back and stared at him, lighting a cigarette.

"So, a yaoi convention, huh?" she asked with a snort. "You sure he didn't plan that at all? Cause that's one of those gay things, right?"

If Haido was using Kenji to keep him close and in bed, keep him happy and turned on. Yaoi convention seemed like a good idea.

"Any other hot men catching your interest then?"

Kenji rolled his eyes as if to say of COURSE he was cleaning them. They'd only been in for a day, it wasn't like there was much to worry about yet. He didn't think his ears were going to turn green, because he knew he didn't have a metal allergy.

Still, it was soooooo sweet of Keiko to care. Even though he knew she was only doing it to have something to complain about.

Thinking of the thong-man, Kenji made a face. "No... They were all kind of gross. Greasy, you know? There was one guy that wasn't bad, but I don't like blondes."

No offense to Keiko, of course. But, she knew he could never like her that way anyway.

"Well, none of them would be good enough anyways," Keiko said, reaching towards the table for her pack and lighting up a cigarette. She got up and grabbed the controller to her game and sat back down.

So she was over protective of Kenji, problems?

Besides, she usually did know what was best. When Kenji didn't listen, he wound up in trouble somehow.

"So, what's he got planned next? And do you want him to keep this up?" she asked, restarting the game from her last save point.

"I don't know..." Kenji sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I'm still mad at him, but it's hard to stay mad when he's around and being so perfect. I know I should be, but... he doesn't know what he did, and I really do like having him around."

The expression on his face was so helpless it actually hurt. His eyes were heavy, and it felt so strange to frown after such a long period of smiling.

He really didn't know what to do about Haido.

Keiko rested the controller on her lap playing one handed briefly to flick ash into an ashtray at her side, stuck it in her mouth again and took up the controller. She was silent for a long moment, buttons clicking, eyes squinted through the smoke.

"Were you lying when it all happened, or was it just a heat of the moment thing?" she finally asked, repeating her motions continually to flick ash. "Like... when you said... 'it', was it an accident, or just something to say to say."

Gods knew what happened between the sheets half the time. Some mistakes were made that couldn't be taken back, and though she'd made her share (even doing what Kenji himself had done once or twice), she'd never acted like this over it.

Why was her friend so weird?

Sighing, Kenji shrugged. "I'm not sure..." He wasn't. He didn't know what to think about the situation, and coupled with his desire NOT to think about it, he very rarely reached any grand conclusion.

"It didn't feel like just something to say, but I didn't mean to say it." And he wasn't sure whether his hurt was from Haido telling him no, or simply because of the denial in the first place. Kenji didn't know, and he didn't know how to find the answer.

It was like math. There were just some things he was really bad at. This seemed to be one of them.

"Ah," Keiko grunted with a short nod. "So you basically fast-fowarded. Got it."

This time she hit pause and relaxed back into the couch, snubbing out the cigarette. She motioned for Kenji to sit closer and she draped an arm over his thin shoulders.

"Sorry about this, but you've gotta figure it out now," she explained, not looking sorry in the least. "There's no reason for you to do anything you don't want to, but it's not right to lead someone else on, despite their... unclear intents. So, you've got your options, Kenji: One- You try starting a relationship with a clean slate. No jumping into bed. Two- Jump into bed, fuck the relationship. Three- Back out now."

Keiko gave him a one armed hug.

"I won't hate you if you don't want to be a part of the band after this. It was yours to make or break. But you do need to realize and think about what you're doing."

Looping an arm around her shoulders, Kenji nodded, brow furrowing. He didn't seem to realize how very few hugs from Keiko he got, already wrapped up in thoughts he hadn't really allowed himself for days.

It was easier now that he had choices. He didn't want to back out and leave the band. He didn't really want to leave the band at all, but it was the easy option. Just step back and let everything, life carry on without him.

But that was the cheap way out. He didn't want to mitigate everything and simply step back.

He didn't want to just climb into bed again, either, even though they had never REALLY been in a bed. That would keep them on the same unsteady ground they were on, and that wasn't at all safe.

So that left him one option.

Pulling back from the hug, Kenji stood and ruffled Keiko's hair. "I need to call Haido..."

Keiko gave him a little smile, blowing him a kiss as he stood, running a hand through her hair. Brat.

"Alright, babe," she said with a nod, lighting up another cigarette and unpausing the game. "Go call him and get back to me when you get a chance. I haven't seen much of you lately. He's making sure you eat, right?"

Kenji couldn't cook, he never had food in the house, so someone had to make sure he was eating something and not just living off coffee.

"Never mind. I'm leaving this between you and him," she said, shaking her head just slightly as she watched the game on the TV. "Don't forget to call me once in a while lover boy."
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Author's Notes: Yes, Keiko is being seen less and less these days. She's still a good friend to Kenji and in the band, it's just... we have no idea what we want her to do. I think it would've been funny if we made her a lesbian, but I'm also delirious with a fever, so. Yeah.

Or Keiko could've been a ninja! That would've been sweet. Ninja powers! Hm... I wanna write about ninja now.

Drop us a line!

~Subby