Cold Play

Chapter Five: The Student and His Sensei


The purring of the car engine descended into silence at the turn of Eiri’s key.

Silently, he turned to look out through his tinted window at the dark skies before reclining the leather backrest. He settled into the lower angle, closed his eyes and concentrated on relaxing his stressed senses.

It had been a hectic week; Eiri had been coming to school earlier than he was used to, taking extra classes from K, taking tests he had missed, and re-taking the ones he had taken without proper care. Of course, there was still the monstrous list of unfinished assignments not to be forgotten on top of all that. There had been a point he’d gotten so tired of K’s lectures that he had threatened to give up. But a glimpse of his sensei walking down the halls or catching a few notes of his distinctive humming of unfamiliar tunes and Eiri would find himself calm and ready to continue.

The teen brought up a hand up to touch softly to his lips. It was a cheap imitation of the way his sensei had shyly succumbed to his kisses but it was enough to remind him of the short lived joy. Enough that, despite the rotten weather and all the work he still needed to get done, a small smile crept across his face.

He thought back to what had happened, his mind filling with the emotions and sensations of the week before…


O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O


Shuichi’s mouth had been just like how he had imagined them to be. Yielding velvety lips… soft as rose petals, he’d decided. The tang of the kiss had initially reminded him of fresh watermelons, the lingering essence later melting into a tart yet sweet strawberry taste. Perfect, just as Eiri had envisioned. And all imagining and fantasies had faded in the face of that scorching kiss.

There had been absolutely no comparison.

Eiri’s heart had pulsed violently in his chest and his head spun, only to regain focus on the new crash of sensations. Body reacting, taking control, he slid his tongue out to Shuichi’s lips to caress the softness and ask for passage into the cavern beyond. He stroked gently, insistently, until with a moan the older man opened for him. Lips tingling, he sought the wet warmth beyond and felt the fires of his desire stoke into an incarnate and powerful lust.

Pulling Shuichi’s body against himself, Eiri pressed their heated flesh together and felt his skin hum at the contact. He forced himself to rein in his control and tried not to force himself further on the man. He pulled back briefly and loosened his hold, allowing a few moments to pass before plundering the uncharted area again. When he had memorized every detail of Shuichi’s mouth, he retreated to bite playfully at the older man’s lips, eliciting another passionate moan. Oh, but the student didn’t stop there. His tongue kept quite busy with one job and his hands did another. Eiri wasn’t even really aware of what his fingers were doing, but the small figure in his arms certainly was!

Shuichi was more than aware of those hands running up and down his sides, they felt warm, comforting, and heightened his senses to a point where he thought he would go crazy! The student’s insistent hands smoothed possessively over his body and when they gripped his hips, a great wash of pleasure overcame him. The pressure was so fierce it almost hurt, but the pleasure was so good the pain hardly mattered. Shuichi was sure he’d never felt like this before!

“Yuki…”

Eiri heard but didn’t let him finish, attacking his mouth with greater effort.

“Yukiiii…” Shuichi whispered again. This time the man pushed at his student lightly, slipping the fingers of his right hand over his student’s lips and gently pushing the teen’s yearning mouth from his. “Yuki-kun,” he mumbled again, his voice laced with tension. He met Eiri’s golden gaze but couldn’t seem to bring himself to hold it, and looked away.

All of a sudden, Eiri was very much aware of their position. He didn’t remember how, but he had somehow pushed his Sensei to the floor under him. Shuichi’s small coat was splayed beneath them and his clothes were pulled messily about his body. Shuichi looked very thoroughly kissed, with his hair mussed, lips swollen and looking a little dazed. And Eiri? He was settled between his sensei’s legs with his elbows supporting his upper body, his lower half intimately pressed to his Sensei. He was powerfully aroused, just as he could feel his teacher was.

But he had a problem.

Because though he had tried not to, Eiri had somehow brought things to their limit, and he knew that their play came to stop here. Breaking their delicious contact, the student pulled himself up and off the teacher who wriggled away and sat up on his knees. The student followed suit and sat up, hesitantly allowing a few feet of space between them. The writer stared at Shuichi’s flushed face and remained silent, uncertain as to what would happen next now that the spell was broken.

Shuichi fidgeted nervously, avoiding Eiri’s eyes. But the pressure of the silence became too much for the small man to bear, so he turned and began to gather his referral documents and text books. His movements were shakily hasty as he shoved the items messily into his bag.

“Ano…” he said, fumbling with his belongings, “Um…Yuki…kun. I-- I should be going.”

Eiri nodded. He could understand why the man seemed anxious; he’d just been kissed by his own student for goodness’ sake!

“I’ll walk you out… Sensei,” Eiri said, rising after his object of desire, resisting the urge to call the man by name as he originally wanted. The teacher jerkily pulled his clothes back into place and adjusted his coat, straightening the folds that the teen had caused from ‘trying’ to undress him earlier.

The student watched silently, trying to quell his rising nervousness as the normally motor-mouthed teacher kept quiet. He watched Shuichi stand up with his bag clutched under an arm, the other hand reaching for the doorknob. He lowered his gaze, unhappily waiting for the moment the door would shut behind his departing guest. Maybe then he would truly believe his teacher didn’t want to face him. He silently rebuked himself; he’d gone too fast and pushed too hard, going further than the teacher wanted. He knew it, and now he’d driven his sensei away…

“Yuki-kun!”

Thoughts interrupted, he raised his head just in time to see his Sensei whirl around quickly. The teacher raised himself onto his toes, lips reaching for his. He didn’t know if his Sensei meant to go for the center of his lips, but the man landed the touch on the curve of Eiri’s mouth. The teen didn’t know how to react to such an innocent and chaste kiss, and remained still. Shuichi pulled back and hurried to the door, looking over his shoulder with a soft smile playing on his lips.

“Don’t forget our deal now,” he said to the shocked teen, and closed the door behind himself.

Eiri blinked. His honey eyes widened momentarily, before narrowing as he regained his composure. Reaching up, the teen touched a fingertip to the corner of his lips, relishing the lingering taste of Shuichi on his mouth. He leaned against the wall beside the door and smiled softly to himself.

‘I won’t forget.’


O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O


In his car Eiri smiled, opening his eyes and pulling his thoughts away from the incident from last week, turning to gaze out the window.

That was why he was here at school early. That and he’d been forced to ask K-sensei to re-teach him the lessons he had missed while working as Shindou-sensei’s student aide. Eiri had been a little disappointed when Shuichi admitted not knowing a thing about English writers. He was a writer and aspired to become the western’s next greatest writer, and he had hoped that the man he admired would know at least something about literature…

But it didn’t really matter in the end anyway. He wanted Shuichi just the way he was.

Eiri had a lot of work to catch up on and never mind his classmates were staring at him in wonderment at his sudden vigor to catch up with his studies. He was working hard and refused the other students’ offers to borrow their finished test papers and homework. He brushed away the invitations from the girls to attend ‘study groups’ with them, and refused almost all contact. It took a while, but they all were reminded that Yuki-kun preferred things to be done his way and his alone. The student knew it would all be worth it in the end.

How could it not when he had a date with destiny?

“I should go,” Eiri mumbled to himself, grumbling his way out of a fantasy that would surely completely distract him all over again. He needed to focus on the day ahead of him. He gripped the car door handle but before he could even open it, movement caught his eye. His gaze fixed on the strangely familiar black and shiny car; Eiri stepped out of his own vehicle and automatically locked it behind him. The object of his focus was parking in one of the open slots in the junior years’ parking space.

A youthful-looking man with a guitar case stepped out from the passenger seat, but Eiri quickly decided the man couldn’t be a new transfer student. He looked older than his Sensei, and his long cinnamon hair was untied. It might not be much of an indicator, but one of Seguchi’s most strictly enforced rules noted that all men with long hair were to tie it up while on campus. Eiri himself was toeing the line on that one…

He didn’t much care who the man was, what he was really interested in was the woman he recognized in the driver’s seat. The man leaned over to speak to the woman, his expression friendly and calm. Eiri watched, hoping the female was really not who he thought it was. But when she turned to speak out her window, her face gave Eiri a proper view of her features, he did know.

It was her.

The scenes of the woman panting with lust replayed in his mind. What was her name again? Miya…Miya..ri? Eiri’s brow furrowed further when she leaned over and pecked the man on his cheek, her face still contorted in that worried expression.

He wanted to rip her head off. There could only be one reason she would be here looking that worried and hopeful, and it no doubt involved the love of his life and that event three weeks prior. But before he could decide on a course of action, the woman took off in the car, and the unidentified man turned to the building entrance.

Snatching his bag and notebooks, Eiri hurried to catch up. If there was something about to happen and Shuichi was involved, he sure as hell wanted to be there for it. He followed a few paces behind, keeping up and able to see where the man was going without really drawing attention to himself… until a large figure with a blonde ponytail blocked his path.

“Hallo!” K greeted with his thick English accent.

Eiri sneaked a glance over the American’s shoulder, seeing his target head up the stairs. He tried to circle around the obstructing man but K anticipated the move and stepped into the student’s way, blocking him again.

“Where are you going?” the American asked, holding up his ‘tool’, the barrel of which Eiri was suddenly rudely re-introduced to. “You’re ten minutes late! Time is of the essence young Yuki Eiri!”

“Look,” the student said exasperatedly, more than a little aware that the man he’d been trailing was now out of sight, “I have to go… and see Shindou-sensei. I have to ask him something--”

“No can do, siree!” the man whooped, stepping forward and backing the teen towards room four, “If you leave now I won’t have enough time to explain Shakespeare’s Macbeth to you. Now get moving, ‘coz time’s a-wasting!” He stopped and frowned. Eiri was suddenly standing his ground and refused to budge further. “Besides,” the teacher reasoned, “what do you need to ask him about? Shuichi doesn’t know anything about the values of Shakespeare’s work, so you’re better off asking me… your homeroom teacher.” In finality he barked, “Now come!”

Realizing he couldn’t argue anymore, Eiri cast one last annoyed glare down the hall at the staircase where the man had disappeared.


O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O

He was highly pissed off.

It was quite evident by the way Eiri strode purposefully, forcefully on his way. He seethed as he strode down the hall and up the stairs, radiating such an aura of angry intent that people scattered out of his path. No one met his fiery golden stare, no one tried to stop him and no one tried to flirt with him. Yuki Eiri was on a rampage and there was no one stupid enough to try and get in his way.

Ignoring the surreptitious glances thrown his way, Eiri tried to reign in his anger; his anger for K-sensei.

Just an hour ago, he had seen Shuichi’s ex talking to a man who’d disappeared up the stairs. He was fairly certain the man was now with his Sensei and he did not like it that he didn’t know what was going on. When he’d tried to follow, that damned America had interfered. He’d been dragged into class against his will, and then K-sensei had threatened to fail him for the entire quarter of the school curriculum if he didn’t listen to the lectures. He still regretted submitting to the man’s wishes despite what had been put at stake. As soon as the homeroom bell had rung, he’d dashed out, ignoring the teacher’s further threats for being out on his way to missing second period.

Clutching at the rail to aid him on his rapid ascent up the stairs, Eiri took the steps three at a time. The pounding of his feet almost seemed to echo the headache building behind his eyes. Because if losing the trail of that unknown man wasn’t bad enough, if sitting through that annoying American teacher’s class hadn’t pissed him off enough, then what really lit his fuse was who he’d seen through the school window during first period. That… that bitch Miyari –or whatever her name was—was here.

She was in the building, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out where she would be right now.

Eiri didn’t give a rat’s ass if K-sensei was curious as to why he immediately bolted out of the room at the sound of the bell. He did not care if he was losing time he could be spending on his homework. Work forgotten, he wanted… no needed to know what the big conspiracy was against his Sensei… and he needed to see if the man was alright. A heartbroken teacher talking to an ex on school grounds could never be a good idea.

He slowed his steps as he approached room 3-7 just as he came upon the door, he suddenly and clearly heard Shuichi. A very upset Shuichi,

“What do you mean ‘another chance? Huh, Miyari! Are you telling me to suck it in and take you back?!”

A woman said pleadingly, “No! That’s now what I meant! I’ll pay whatever it takes--”

“You’ll pay me?! I am not a fucking toy, do you hear me? You think you can buy me?”

“Shu… will you calm down?” This one was a man’s voice, perhaps that unknown guitarist? Eiri frowned, standing before the door suddenly not knowing what to do. He wondered if he should barge in and break up the scene… or would his love become upset with him and lash out?

“Hiro! I can’t believe you agreed to this! No! I don’t want to take her back--”

Miyari spoke again, a little more desperate, “But you’ve forgiven me before, love, please one more time... I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me, I--” Eiri heard something crash violently, the sound cutting off whatever the woman had intended to say. He wanted so badly to be near Shuichi, feeling somehow that he should be there for the older man.

“You’re fucking crazy!” He heard his Sensei harshly say. Eiri suspected that his teacher had been going for a dramatic exit by throwing open the door, but instead rammed straight into him. The two tumbled to the ground. Instantly, the lines of tension on the teacher’s face faded as he stared up into Eiri’s equally startled eyes. The teacher and student stared silently at each other for a lingering moment.

“Yu--Yuki-kun!” Eiri watched the deep red color rise across his teacher’s face as Shuichi disentangled himself from his student. “I-- I’m sorry!” Shuichi said quickly, rolling to the side and to his feet, then reached to help his student get up.

Before Eiri could utter anything, he was saved from himself. He might have only said something that would most likely unintentionally embarrass his teacher further, anyway. That long-haired man from earlier in the morning came to stand in the doorway, breaking the trance.

“Shu, are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m fine Hiro.” Eiri noted the sudden hostility in his Sensei’s usual friendly voice and those lovely purple eyes narrowing in sarcasm.

Ah, so that was this man’s name.

Seconds later, that woman, came to the door. Up close, now that he really looked at her, Eiri could see she had a nicely curvaceous but lean figure, and that she towered over the pink haired teacher by a good few inches. But that didn’t matter to him right now, the thoughts sliding away as he glared at her.

She opened her mouth to speak but broke off the intent when she saw him. Her eyes went wide, as Eiri’s own narrowed, and he saw recognition in her gaze. The tension built again, this time between him and the girl, Shuichi noticed the chill in the air as he looked back and forth between them, sensing trouble.

Hiro ignored the exchange, maintaining his calm aura and giving off a peace-maker’s air. Eiri might normally have appreciated such a level-headed mediator but the fact that he seemed to be in cahoots with this Miyari woman biased his opinion.

He did not like this Hiro, Eiri decided.

Pulling her gaze away from him, Miyari tried again, cooing sweetly, “Shu-han…” Eiri gritted his teeth at the way she addressed his man. “Let’s talk somewhere private. Away… from here…” She gave him a disapproving look, carefully eyeing him from head to toe.

“Actually,” Shuichi declared, glancing at Eiri, “My student needs me. I am obligated as his teacher to put my students as my top priority. That is my job here in the academy.” Eiri noticed that his Sensei looked as if he was about to cry. He wondered if Shuichi was ashamed to be telling the woman off.

“Shuichi, now reconsider!” Hiro interjected, hands raised in a conciliatory gesture toward the angry teacher. “Miyari’s trying really hard to settle your dispute--“

“Dispute?” Shuichi repeated with disbelief, eyes widening. “Dispute?!” The amethyst eyes narrowed again. “Hiro! I don’t think you know why I’m even standing here! I’m here facing her because you asked me to! I agreed to see her because you wanted me to! But I’ll let you know right now, the thing she did is nothing close to being called a ‘dispute’ because she cheated on me! ”

The student observed Hiro’s face when the man let out a gasp, ignoring Miyari’s shameless cry, ‘No!’ It was immediately obvious that Hiro did not know the full story, and Eiri’s lips twisted into a cruel smile at the realization Miyari might have just ruined her best chances at getting Shuichi back by lying to her mediator. But he could do nothing when, without further ado, the furious teacher turned on his heel and stalked away from the group, leaving the three behind.

This time Eiri thought it best to let him be.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O

So now he knew that his sensei was definitely not alright.

It bothered him, and the rest of Class Four could wondered why their idolized classmate kept sighing throughout the day, because Eiri didn’t give a damn what they thought. The entire thing had put a damper on his so far good, week long, mood. He was particularly bothered by the thought of his Sensei somewhere crying his gorgeous violet eyes out… without him there to give comfort. Poetically, he could liken the mental image of those wet eyes to a lone lily in the midst of a storm… but what use was it all when he could not be there for his love?

He sighed again.

As though summoned by Eiri’s dejection, the clouds shifted and the student’s idle musings were interrupted by the tapping of raindrops against the window. The misery, thankfully, was countered by the school-end bell. The class rose to leave, the day finally over. Despite the impassive expression on his face, Eiri heaved another heavy breath as he stood. He ignored the stares, the greetings, and the invitations for after school fun, and headed out for Room 3-7. He wanted to make sure his Sensei was feeling better, wanted to talk to him, but the sight of Shuichi made him stop.

Down the hallway he saw Shuichi turn down the staircase, accompanied by Hiro and Miyari.

Them again? When would those two learn to leave his Sensei alone? Eiri gritted his teeth as he followed behind, watching them move for the front exit. He had been thinking about the earlier incident all day, wondering what course of action the teacher would take. Shuichi didn’t really seem like the type to hold a grudge for any reason, but Eiri had thought –had hoped-- the weight of Miyari’s crime would somehow push the man over the edge. He had hoped that Shuichi, his Shuichi, wouldn’t take the woman back no matter how forgiving he was.

But when he saw the three get into the woman’s car, his heart dropped and his hope began to fade.

Hurt and sad, Eiri watched them drive away. It hurt. He looked out across the parking lot and absently headed out, not bothering to cover himself up from the rain as he walked to his car. He sluggishly got in and was so disconnected he wasn’t sure how he’d driven home when he got there. Doubts and insecurities plagued his mind and when he stepped into the elevator he asked himself why Shuichi would ever agree to reconcile with Miyari when… when Eiri could do better for him.

He ate his dinner silently, watching the gray skies out his window, thinking of ways he could provide better for his sensei. Love, trust, fidelity… he would give it all to Shuichi. In the shower, he decided that he was sure he could and would, if given the chance, pledge his heart and devote himself to the man. But would his Sensei want what he had to offer? The man had not come to him when he was down, had not come to him for protection from that nosy bastard Hiro or to escape from the bitch Miyari.

Did Shuichi even like him?

Annoyed and confused, he didn’t bother putting on a shirt before he quietly slipped into his study. Trying to refocus his energy, he armed himself with his Algebra II books and Biology worksheets for the egg lab report, and sat down to work. No sooner had he set all his needed materials down on the table when that heavy feeling nagged at him again. He’d never felt so… vulnerable, not since his last…not since his last affair with that man from a long time ago. The writer determinedly got to work, and a few hours later, when he looked down at the small novel’s worth of school work, he asked himself,

What would this mean now?

Sure he had worked hard, and now he only needed his papers checked to make sure all the answers were right. But after that, would he still get what he’d been aiming for, what Shuichi had promised to him last week? He wasn’t quite sure he could settle for the kisses he’d already taken… wasn’t sure if he could be content to return to merely dreaming of his Sensei’s moans, the feeling of the teacher’s body beneath his.

Imagining how perfectly they’d fit together…

The thought of going back to nothing but fantasies made him both angry and sad.

He set his pencil down, turned his papers over, and put his head in his hands. For the millionth time that day, he let loose another heavy breath. The thought of Miyari groveling for his Sensei’s forgiveness, that Hiro urging Shuichi to accept a resolution, it annoyed him. It wasn’t fair! He’d worked so hard for that damn date and whether or not their plans would push through hung in the balance of Shuichi taking Miyari back or not.

Eiri jolted out of his train of thoughts at the sound of knocking. It was from his front door but he hadn’t been expecting anyone. Thinking some take-out delivery boy had lost his way, he stood up to answer.

On any other day Eiri would have checked the peephole but this was no ordinary day. Having expected to find someone unknown behind the door, he instead found the last person he expected, the one person he’d most wanted to have near him. Soaked to the bone, hair a darker shade than he’d ever seen it and shaking from head to toe… stood Shuichi. Eiri decided he was lucky he’d stepped back with the shock of seeing his teacher, especially since a hundred pounds worth of Shuichi suddenly leapt into his arms. Reflexively, the teen clutched his teacher to himself, glad his chest was bare tonight.

“Se-sensei…?” he said, tentatively. He suddenly didn’t care if there was no answer when the smaller body pressed harder against him.

“I--” his teacher choked out, sobbing between his words, “I didn’t know where else to go… I didn’t want to go back to her and I… I didn’t want to be alone! I don’t want to cry for her again, so please,” he begged, burying his tear streaked face into Eiri’s shoulder, “Just let me stay here for tonight…”

Eiri blinked down at the little man in his arms. Shuichi was shaking and it was not from the cold, the wetness from the rain from his clothes dripping onto Eiri’s suddenly sensitive skin. He clutched his Sensei to himself, gathering Shuichi fully into his arms and kicked the door shut behind him. In his living room, he settled the smaller man in his lap, holding him close and comforting him, waiting until the sobs die down. A long while later, when the weeping finally died down completely, Eiri attended to cleaning them both up.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O

“I’m sorry, Yuki-kun,” he heard his Sensei mumble.

Eiri glanced over from his study desk to where his Sensei was hunched over in a ball on the student’s spare futon, looking adorably cute in one of Eiri’s blue dress shirts. The garment was much too big for him and came down to his knees, the sleeves overhanging off his hands. Shuichi’s eyes were swollen from crying and his face was pale, but he still looked every inch the cutest person the student had ever seen. Shuichi finished his warm milk and placed the empty mug down on the floor beyond the edge of the futon. Rearranging the sheets around himself, he snuggled into the soft layers.

“Thank you, Yuki-kun!” he whispered with soft enthusiasm, giggling a little as he lay down.

Eiri kept an eye on him for a moment, wondering how tiring his Sensei’s discussion might have been. He shook his head softly, smiling a little to himself and tore his gaze away to focus again on the last bits of work he had to finish. He dimmed the lights and resisted the urge to crawl into Shuichi’s bed, firmly turning his back on the sleeping man. He was almost back in gear and fully concentrating when he heard his sensei’s soft voice,

“Yuki-kun?”

“Hm?” He did not turn to look, knowing that if he did he wouldn’t be getting any work done. He could hear the warmth in his Sensei’s voice when the man spoke,

“I’m proud of you that you’re working hard. You’re almost done, right?”

Eiri nodded, this time unable to stop himself from glancing back and over his shoulder. “Yes. I’m almost finished, Sensei.” He watched Shuichi, studying the purple sleep-hooded eyes.

Giving a wide sleepy smile, Shuichi huddled under his covers, eyes slipping shut. “Good,” he whispered, his voice fading as he drifted off into sleep. Eiri had to strain his ears to hear his last words,

“Because I can’t wait for our date…”

Eiri found relief for the first time that day, and smilingly he watched the man fade away into dreamland before turning around to his papers, and suddenly the student found that he’d finally finished.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O

AN: All I can say is I am greatly thankful for my heaven sent beta Tsubaki! She’d made all my rough words flow so smoothly I hardly ever recognize anything! Thank you so much!

Another thing I am thankful for are for the wonderful wonderful reviewers who’ve given me so much inspiration with their thoughts! I want you all to know that I am working so very hard for all of our sakes to finish this project hopefully soon ^_^ I love you all and I hoped you all enjoyed my small Thanksgiving present!!


Please do review and share to me your thoughts and Thanksgiving spirit! Please and thank-you!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!