Transaction

Disclaimer: Must I repeat?

Author’s Notes: Bleh. Sorry for the no update. I decided to get back into editing in favor of updating because I have a lot to go over. This is the last chapter I had pre-edited before I made the rest. I've gotten almost ten more chapters done, though. I'm just a little tired. And tonight, me and some friends are going to see Zodiac! Spoooooky. He's actually a very interesting serial killer for anyone that may have taken a Psych class. I suggest looking it up online if you want.

Anyways, last chapter we had the breaking point starting up between Taki and Tohma. I wish I could say it was happily ever after from there on, but if it was, we wouldn't have a sequel! Kel and I had a specific ending planned out for this story. Mostly, it was the ending for Haido and Kenji, but with the way things turned out, it was a right place to end things for Tohma and Taki.

Twenty-six more chapters until the end. What else could we possibly torture these characters with until then? Pffffft, lots. Tons. You'll see.

Thanks to Anon and Jo-Jo. Reviews are always great to get! And I have to agree with Jo-Jo. It is getting better as it goes. We're getting into a more realistic setting now, trying to take a step out the farfetched reaches that Tohma seems to have, albeit, we don't know much about the music industry, so we warped it to fit our story.

So, now please enjoy a tender moment!
~~~
Transaction

Chapter Fifty
~~~
"Alright, popcorn? Check. Kenichi Ito live in concert?" Haido picked up a DVD and popped it in to the player. "Check. Ready?"

He went back over to the couch, taking a seat, shifting to get comfortable. Eventually, he settled with one leg folded underneath him leaning over on the arm rest. Today was just a nice calm day. He was surprised Kenji had agreed to this. After all, he'd made up his mind to sort of... 'woo' Kenji back into good graces. This wasn't exactly what one would call 'wooing'.

Then again, after that phone call, things had been a little strange. Haido took up the remote and hit play before setting it down on the table again.

"Kenji! You're gonna miss it! Soda doesn't take that long to get."

"It does too!" Kenji came out of the kitchen holding two bottles of Ramune, marbles already pressed down. Handing one to Haido, he sat down on the couch, folding his legs under him and leaning against the smaller man.

The truth of it was, Kenji would have agreed to anything Haido suggested, especially after the call. A day in sounded perfect, and a day in watching Kenichi Ito... well, that was past perfect. That was bliss.

He'd seen this concert before, though, and that was fine. He liked Kenichi Ito. Kenji thought he was funny, and he'd been following his career since he'd started in Iceman. Iceman was still one of the best bands in the world, it didn't matter to him that they'd broken up years before...

It didn't take much. As soon as Kenichi was playing his solo for Solitude, Kenji was asleep, his head on Haido's shoulder.

He was so nervous. It was easy to be confident when Keiko was looking at him, but as soon as he was outside and dialing the number, Kenji felt like the couldn't breathe. But, there weren't any other options.

He wasn't ready to give up the band, and he wasn't ready to give up the idea of a relationship with Haido. The reality, well... that was different. But the idea? He couldn't hand that aside. Not after everything else, and even with that in mind, his hand was still shaking as he pressed the phone to his ear.


Haido smiled, looking down at Kenji as he slept soundly. He let an arm slip gently around the other mans body, watching him with Kenichi singing in the background. That was faint though. He wasn't paying attention.

His mind was wandering back and forth from now and back then. When Kenji had called him.

Haido had been out shopping when Kenji had called. He was trying to decided which animes and mangas would be good to pick up for Kenji. He was also wishing that he knew what kind of candy the singer liked. If Keiko had told him, he couldn't remember it.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he answered distractedly, but as soon as he heard the voice on the other end, he couldn't help but find himself smiling. Though... something sounded different. And, when he thought about, when had Kenji ever called them during this whole little thing?

He had to step out of the store to hear him better. It had sounded important. Almost like something was wrong.


Kenji didn't remember what he said in the beginning of the conversation. Hello, probably, but it wasn't important... not at all. Not compared to everything else.

"I need you to just... listen for a minute, okay?" His voice was shaking almost as much as his hands were, and while Kenji could tighten his fingers to make them stop, he couldn't do anything about his words.


"Of course," Haido answered, frowning as he walked along the busy sidewalk. Damnit! This city was so congested. He was jostled a bit, but eventually made it out of the dense part of the foot traffic.

"What's going on?" he asked, not liking this at all. Kenji sounded weird. Like he was hurt or... or something worse. "Do you need me to stop by? Something?"

Anything? He didn't like how this was going already.


"No, just... listen." Kenji took a deep breath, but it wasn't doing anything to calm him down. "I don't know how to say this..." He sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

His stomach was knotting, tensing and making him feel sick. "I know... I promised to give you a week, but... I'm really not patient." Taking a deep breath, Kenji couldn't make himself focus on the building across the street.

"I love you."
~~~
Author's Notes: We like the contrast of this scene/flashback compared to Tohma and Taki. Yes, these things ar going on simultaneously. We thought it was an interesting thing to do. Give a look at two different couples on opposite ends of the scale.

Tell us what you think.

~Subby