Cold Play

AN: Gomen for taking so long! It took me about two weeks to come up with this chapter and then my beta took a few days because she was busy~ so I’m really sorry for the delay! Anyway, read on and please read the rest of the note at the end of the chapter^^

Chapter Seven: Sunday to Friday

There was nothing Eiri could ask more of the deities when his Sensei chose to stay with him.

The past four days with his teacher had passed blissfully. He’d found it so calming, so satisfying, that he thought he might have found his Nirvana.

After the traumatizing incident last Friday, Shuichi had spent the night. And after spending the following day calmly in Eiri’s apartment, the two had quickly figured out how well they co-habited. They had spent Saturday trying to study but that was hopeless when Eiri kept teasing his Sensei about his small stature. Shuichi blushed so prettily and his pouts were just so adorable that finally the student had to distract himself by suggesting he cook for the older man.

Shuichi had been quite surprised to see how skilled his student was in the kitchen. The teacher admitted he was no where near as good, but that was alright with Eiri because he decided that he liked taking care of his teacher. This man who would be, if he had anything to say about it, his.

By Sunday morning, Shuichi had asked to move in with him. Eiri had thought he might leap with joy at that question. Was there ever any other answer than ‘yes’? He hid his enthusiasm, solemnly nodded yes and was almost instantaneously barreled into by the exuberant teacher. Having received permission, the teacher reappeared later that very same afternoon, carrying his few possessions.

Eiri had dutifully shown his teacher around the place, barely able to contain his mounting excitement. Having settled in, the teacher snatched the teen’s wrist and dragged him out of the large apartment.

“To the bakery!” Shuichi had declared as though charging into battle, “Yuki-kun likes strawberry cheesecake, ne?”

The teen nodded. He wondered how his Sensei got a hold of that particular ‘secret.’ It did not occur to Eiri that if someone were to simply peek into his rubbish bin, there could be found fancy cake boxes with cream-smeared lids, each fancily marked with a little strawberry sticker.

On Monday morning, Eiri gave his sensei the extra key to the apartment. ‘Lent’ was the term his pink haired obsession had referred to it when it was accepted, but Eiri planned on doing something about that opinion.

After all, now that he had the man, there was no way he was going to let go.

Shuichi and Eiri both left the apartment for school at the same time that day. The student was so happy he drove within traffic laws just to prolong the contentment of having Shuichi in the car with him. He got them to school on time, and by six thirty the two were straightening out Room 3-7 in preparation for the day. Having stayed to help, the student was afforded the amusing sight of watching his Shuichi pull out his chair from beneath the teacher’s desk to use as a stepping stool when he reached for the top of the blackboard to write. With a smirk he wondered, when Shuichi wrote lectures, did he stand on the chair or did he simply use only the bottom half of the board…

It was when Shuichi fell and nearly smacked his head on the floor did the student finally decided to do something other than ogle. He was more than a little worried, having heard the displeasing sound of that small body hitting the floor.

“Baka Sensei!” he hissed, concerned and annoyed, helping the man up and inspecting him carefully. “If you need help just say so!” he continued to scold; only when he realized the teacher was staring at him with big purple jewel eyes with an expression so innocent did he stop.

He sighed.

“Sensei, would you like me to help you?” he offered politely, though his tone was rather unceremonious.

“Would you?” Shuichi asked shyly.

At the student’s nod, the teacher handed over his piece of chalk and the class schedule. Pushing the chair out of the way, Eiri smirked as he raised his arm and without difficulty reached the top of the board. He began to copy the schedule onto the board and, each time he ducked his head to check the paper in his hand, his Sensei was there on the border of his vision. He was more than aware of the eyes observing him. Shuichi didn’t pretend, obviously watching the tall and handsome student.

Just as Eiri finished, the bell for homeroom rang and the teen chucked the half reduced chalk into its container and turned to his smiling teacher. Bowing slightly, being younger and a student, the teen turned for the door. He retreated to the halls, nodding at Shuichi’s cry of, ‘Thanks, Yuki-kun!!”

All morning, most of his lunch period, and the few hours of the afternoon were dedicated to day-dreaming about his teacher. He schemed, thinking up ideas on how to bring Shuichi and himself closer in their relationship. Though he was now on more friendly terms with his pink haired teacher than anyone else, it just simply wasn’t enough. Eiri was pretty sure that devouring the older man with his eyes was not enough anymore.

Now if only his teacher would get the hint that ‘Yuki belonged to him.’ Eiri wished all of a sudden he could have more detention… now that Shindou-sensei was this week’s detention monitor.


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


Monday afternoon was when the trouble began.

The teen went home when his soon-to-be lover insisted he go on ahead. There, he patiently went to position himself in his living room to wait for his lover.

Screw the ‘soon-to-be’ thing; Shuichi was his.

Eiri had been so busy thinking about the man of his dreams that he hadn’t notice the familiar motorbike outside he’d walked right past. It was only when he saw a black haired ‘Yuki Eiri look-alike’ in his living room did he finally come out of his thoughts.

“What, the fuck are you doing in my house?” he said to the teen watching his TV, in a very hostile voice. Tatsuha was comfortably lounging on his couch, beer and snacks in hand. The ‘guest’ with raven dark hair narrowed dark eyes, as he glanced up at the angry writer. Despite how alike the brothers appeared, despite the opposition in coloring, Tatsuha’s face broke into a grin which Eiri was certainly not ever going to be caught dead giving to anyone.

Except maybe Shuichi…?

“Aniki!” the younger boy cried excitedly. But when he caught sight of the glower on his brother’s face he explained, “I’m just visiting! Dad wanted me to check on you since you never reply to the calls and letters. Mika too.”

Eiri’s eyes narrowed on the sight of his beer in the hands of someone other than him.

“The joys of being a monk!” Tasuha wailed with dramatic woe, completely unconvincing.

Fuck. Eiri thought, Shuichi might come home any minute…

“Yeah, yeah. Get your ass out of my house, Tatsuha.” Eiri glared, adding warningly, “Now.”

Tatsuha looked at him, a fake pout in place. “Aw! But I don’t have anywhere else to go! They didn’t give me enough money to go to a hotel! C’mon, nii-san!”

“No.” Eiri headed for the phone, saying, “I’ll call Tohma and that’s it. Now get the fuck out.”

Eiri watched expressions flit across his younger brother’s eyes. He could make an easy bet that the thoughts going through his kid brother’s head involved a lot of musings over what he could do with a few of Tokyo’s un-bred girls and Tohma’s large jacuzzi.

“Okay, then!” Tatsuha called gleefully, hopping off the couch. “I’m out of here.” He pulls on his shoes quickly and heads out the door. Usually, it took Eiri having to endure a lot of whines and excuses of not having anywhere to go before his brother would leave. Thankfully, Tatsuha’s own imagination provided all the reasons he needed to be convinced he’d be better off staying with his brother-in-law instead.

The front door shut, and Eiri let out a relieved breath.

Not a few moments later, the door re-opened and Eiri turned to yell at his brother again. Instead of his look-alike, it was Shuichi who walked in. He eyed his sexy Sensei as the man groaned and flopped over onto the couch. He smiled softly; being home with this man was what he loved best. After four o’clock, here in this apartment, was where his charade as the ‘student’ and his Sensei’s proper behavior ended. His baka Shuichi was what remained.

“Yuki!” Shuichi cried when the teen settled on the floor beside him. Before Yuki could say anything else, the teacher continued, “I just saw the strangest thing!”

Uh-oh…

“There was this younger guy in front of your apartment door, right there on the landing, and he looked just like you! Except he had black hair and eyes instead of blonde hair and golden eyes,” Shuichi giggled. “He was hitting on a girl and bribing her with something about a nice ‘jacuzzi’ party when I spotted him. I tried to walk past him but he spotted me and tried to keep me away from the door! It was so strange because he looked like you!”

Eiri groaned inwardly and leaned over Shuichi immediately to quickly glance the teacher over. For sure Tatsuha would have tried to touch his obsession if they had talked for more than ten seconds… When there appeared to be no signs of molestation, Eiri was assured and he sat back.

“And what’s so strange about him looking like me?” he asked, sipping his beer.

Shuichi grinned, “He was exactly your opposite,” he replied.

“Hn,” said Eiri, deliberately trying not to lead the conversation. As though taking the hint, the older man sat up, his excitement calming.

“Seguchi-san gave me the outline for the essay you have to submit for the contest,” said the teacher. “Would you like me to go over it with you now?”

Calmly, from his seat on the carpeted floor, Eiri turned away from the couch and leaned back against the side. He took a drink of the beer Tatsuha had left on the coffee table. When Shuichi brought up the subject of his essay, the writer had to think about it for a few minutes. Because whenever he thought of the essay, all he could think about was what would happen after it was finished. And judging from the way Shuichi seemed to be very interested in helping him finish it might mean the teacher was thinking the same thing.

It was a distracting thought. He knew Shuichi meant to motivate him, but it wasn’t quite working. Because aside from the distraction of wondering if the teacher was as eager as he to get to their date, Eiri knew he was deviating from his usual writing style. He had always been known for his romance-genre work, with that reliable twist of betrayal and death. It was his style and one he did very well because it was based on his own feelings; from the bottom of his heart.

Eiri’s teacher, by contract was a happy person and thoughts of the Sensei cheered him to the point that it put a damper on his angst-ridden writing mood. Being around the teacher, even thinking about him, made the teen much too happy and calm to write.

Contemplating his dilemma, Eiri lifted the beer to his lips again but his arm was intercepted. He glanced up into his Sensei’s worried eyes.

“You shouldn’t drink this. It’s bad for you.” Shuichi mumbled He took the can and placed it aside on the coffee table.

Locking his gaze intently on the older man, Eiri replied to the earlier question, “I’ll go through it later…Sensei…” Eiri nearly choked on the word, having addressed the man so formally again. He kept hoping that he would one day be corrected, be invited to call the teacher by his first name.

Shuichi made no such offer and instead extended a hand to Eiri’s forehead. “Okay,” he replied.

Eiri watched his Sensei’s lips descend on his temple. He’d had a growing head ache earlier, from having been stressing out over the teacher all day, dealing with his academic pressure and his most recent problem with writing. At the touch of those lips, however, it seemed to vanish in a heartbeat. Eiri tilted his head back to rest it on the couch and sighed contentedly.

It had only been a few moment, long moments perhaps, but all too soon Shuichi’s lips lifted. The teacher lay back and collapsed tiredly on the couch as if his innocent action had drained the life out of him.

Shuichi and Eiri slid blissfully into sleep beside each other. The teacher on the couch, his arm stretched over to the student’s nape where it had slid down, the fingers tangled in the soft honey strands. The student, leaning back against the couch,

A peaceful smile on his face…


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


Eiri was jolted from his sweet slumber at the poke of a finger on his nose.

He turned angrily over and came face to face with his demonic look-alike. Instantly, he growled, all too aware that he had very clearly told this nuisance of a brother to get the ‘fuck’ out of his house and never return.

“Aniki,” the raven haired one said, his face very close to his brother’s. “So, you’re fucking your Sensei?” Eiri quickly stood up and shoved the idiot away.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped, glancing over the clock. It read fifteen minutes before seven in the morning. “And why the hell didn’t he wake me up?!” he exclaimed to himself, referring to his fool of a room-mate.

“You didn’t answer my question, Eiri!” Tatsuha called gleefully. He turned to watch his brother hastily putting on his uniform.

“By the time I turn around you had better be running off to Kyoto, I don’t want to deal with you today or in any day for the matter!” Yuki cussed ‘gracefully’ when he realized his shirt was inside out.

“I thought something was going on.” Tasuha mused as he stood. “You don’t see a teacher going about his way just to ‘tutor’ his student.” He smirked and hurriedly asked, as though merely gossiping, “So who’s the seme? You or that pink bush man?”

“Tat. Su. ha.” Yuki enunciated threateningly. He faced his impishly grinning brother when he was done dressing and snarled, “Get out! And if I hear about you approaching him again, I’ll murder you.” Eiri shot him a fiery glare and turned to the door. He marched straight to the kitchen and snatched up his Bento, which sat on the counter and had a post-it note on which was scribbled in his Sensei’s writing, ‘do not forget!’

“Hey look, a message,” Tatsuha said, helpfully pressing the red button of the answering machine. He’d intended for it to serve as a distraction to alleviate his Aniki’s murderous mood. Had he known what the message was, however, he might not have been so eager to press the button.

Tohma’s voice was as calm as ever but his words indicated something else. “Eiri,” His voice was toneless and displeased, “Speak to me before going to class. This is urgent.”

Cringing, Tatsuha glanced at his brother’s frowning face and watched the already displeased expression intensify. Tohma rarely used the word ‘urgent’ so this really was probably important.

“Sounds serious,” he observed. “You better get going.” He hadn’t needed to say it because before the words were fully out of his mouth, his brother brushed past.

“You better not be here when I get back,” Eiri warned in a dangerous tone of voice as he walked out the door.


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


Eiri arrived just as the bell rung, but he knew better than to ignore Tohma’s warning. He immediately made his way opposite the direction of his room and to the principal’s office.

He was greeted like normal, full of smiles and mild interrogation about his health. He was impatient, missing class and had Tatsuha suspicious of him. So his replies were no more than grunts, understandably. It seemed like this was nothing more than a waste of time. However, Tohma caught on to Eiri’s sour mood and finally got down to what he wanted to discuss.

“Eiri-san, I am most upset,” the principal admitted. “I had great hopes that you would make it in time to turn in all your assignments and get a proper grade- however, there had been no progress since I last called you.”

A deep frown settled on the teen’s face. He said, “No progress? What the hell are you talking about? I turned in all my missing assignments!”

“Hardly at all,” Tohma said, indicated a sheet of blue paper which he slid over to the student. “This is your progress report. According to this, you’ve only managed to turn in five missing assignments and you’re still missing quite a few. Should I give you the number?”

[I’m puzzled about what you meant by saying Eiri needs a number; number for what?]

“I don’t need the fucking number!” Eiri roared, scrunching the paper and standing up, “I turned it all in to K last week before the weekend. He said he would check it immediately and give me my grade!” Eiri was fuming and when he realized this, he calmed himself down. Amusing his brother in law was far from his mind now.

Tohma shook his head. “I’m sorry Eiri-kun. We cannot confirm that because K didn’t leave any note about such matters. Your grade is a low D and to enter the exam you must at least achieve a B. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I’ll ask K about it.” He breathed out, standing on his feet and storming to the door. He ignored Tohma’s calls to him and dashed down the halls.


When Eiri entered his homeroom, he was surprised to see not a blonde American standing with his buddy pistol. Instead he was faced with a familiar youthful-looking fair skinned tall man with reddish dark brown hair. The sunlight gave the teacher’s hair a magenta fire.

Where was K? And what was this bastard doing in front of the class?

“Oh! Yuki?” Hiro asked, looking down at his attendance board. “You are Yuki Eiri right?”

Eiri nodded, trudging past the man and heading to the very back of the room, his own corner that provided him enough space to ponder upon his current dilemma. Why was the blonde sensei missing now that Eiri actually needed to talk to him? And even more importantly, where were all his hard earned papers?

Oh god. Don’t tell me he lost them…that bastard.

The teenager snapped from his thoughts when Hiro spoke, “Class, my name is Nakano Hiroshi. Pleased to meet you. I’ve been informed that K had left the country due to an emergency concerning his wife, so as of now and until we are told otherwise, I am your Sensei.”

Eiri’s chin slid off from his supporting hand. The shock alone could have given him a heart attack had he not known at least a little about K-Sensei’s absence. Thankfully, he knew something but… out of the country?! Damn it. But he put up his calm front, heaved a heavy sigh and looked out the window. He needed to figure something out now that is was obvious the race against time was not over. K was gone and now he had this bastard as a Sensei, the same one who’d been trying to ‘hook’ his Shuichi back with an ex.

By the time the bell rung for third lunch, Eiri’s only break from school, he had his resolve in place. He stood up and approached his new, disliked, Sensei.

“Sensei,” he said, “Did K-Sensei happen to leave any unchecked papers around here?” He tried to keep his voice leveled, though it was still evident that he disliked the man very much. The feeling was certainly mutual as a scowl settled on Nakano-sensei’s face. “Or did he mention anything about unchecked papers?”

“No. I’m sorry Yuki-san.” With a shake of his head in negation, the teacher turned towards the door. In the doorway, the teacher turned back and offered, “I have matters to attend to right now. But you may look for your papers here.”

There was not much for Eiri to do, and nothing as important as those papers, so he set to work immediately.

He turned the room figuratively upside down in half an hour and… finally found his papers. K had indeed left them behind, but not one of the papers in the large stack of ‘Eiri’s documents’ were marked with the red ink of a grading pen.

The quiet throbbing in the student’s head rushed to the forefront of his consciousness. Eiri ran a smooth hand over his hair, a nervous habit of trying to ‘comb away’ the migraine which was, needless to say, unsuccessful. He could care less about his health however.

His mind was far from where his physical body was, wondering how he was going to manage now. K was gone because of an emergency and he doubted any of the other teachers would be willing to take on the added task of checking the papers of someone else’s student. Not to mention without deducting points off since K had given him special privileges in allowing him to submit these papers so late.

If this new situation weren’t bad enough, his paper for the CLA was due the next Monday and Eiri still didn’t have any idea on what to discuss about ‘Beauty’, the required subject topic for the essay.

To be exact, he was stuck.

Even if someone took his paper and graded them, he would be unable to submit his essay in such little time. The teen saw very few things beautiful in the world nowadays and making one up would be just as hard as writing from experience. He had supposed he could write about his new desire about a certain teacher, but then figured it would only serve to frustrate him further over his ineptitude at making the man completely his.

Besides, describing his Shuichi was impossible. The feat was like breathing under water.

Looking up, Eiri suddenly noticed that he’d walked out of his classroom toward his Baka’s homeroom. Awareness made him see Shuichi, out of the corner of his eye, standing outside and with the sunlight reflecting off his hair. Eiri turned to the window fully, mesmerized by the sight of his love. The view would have been perfect, had in not been for the man the teacher was with.

Eiri’s eyes narrowed and his brow creased dramatically at the realization at who Shuichi was talking at. Black hair, familiar features, and just as tall as him…Tatsuha.

That bastard! Eiri growled inwardly, clenching his fist tightly when he saw his own kin place a hand on Shuichi. Whatever they had been discussing must have been intense because the little teacher had a small smile on his face, but had both a sad and hopeful expression too. The teacher, looking up at Tatsuha, was now facing Eiri. His purple gaze slid past Tatsuha’s shoulder and directly up into Eiri’s face.

To Eiri it was almost as if the space between them had shortened, and all it took was a smile from his beloved man to put his fears to rest. Tatsuha turned and waved at him, but this only served to remind Eiri of his anger. He had warned that little meddling punk to stay out of his business..! He felt enraged when his brother placed an arm around Shuichi’s shoulders and began to lead the teacher away from the speculator’s line of sight.

The senior was ready to leap out the window and tear the younger man limb to limb, blood relative or not, when he was suddenly interrupted by none other than another hated person.

“Yuki-san,” Hiroshi said, catching the young man’s attention through the formal greeting, “The bell rung moments ago. What are you still doing here?” he asked, eyeing the teen. He looked outside following the student’s line of sight but saw no one outside. He refocused his gaze on his student and asked, “Say, have you seen Shindou-sensei?”

Coldly, the teen turned his back on the teacher, “No,” he lied, and walked off.


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


The moment the bell rang, Eiri snatched up his bags and walked out of the room.

He was on his way to his brother in law’s office to inform the man he had evidence in the form of his finished work, and just needed it to be checked. On the way there, he abruptly realized he did not want to have Tohma himself check the papers; that would be asking for the Principal’s help and would only serve to make matters worse. Eiri was quite sure if he went crying to his influential relative, Tohma would use the request of favor to his advantage and probably trap the independent teen into coming to a family ‘get together’. The thought alone made Eiri shudder… get together events was where everything occurred except for the ‘togetherness’ feeling.

He hesitated a moment longer, thinking about his grades, but then turned on his heel. No. He would not ask Seguchi, that man was just too manipulative.

Giving up for the day, he decided to check on his sensei and see if the man would ride home with him. A nice way to end the day was to ensure his Sensei stayed with him. He would wait until later to interrogate him about Tatsuha… before making them a nice dinner for two. And he was sure that after he poured out his sob story about his test paper problem, Shuichi would offer his help and they would come up with a solution for the problem.

Two heads, after all, was better than one.

Eiri paused before room 3-7 to control his smile. Just long enough, in fact, to hear Nakano-sensei’s frantic voice through the door.

“What do you mean nowhere?” Nakano-sensei exclaimed, “We searched for you everywhere!”

Shuichi spoke then, “Maybe if you don’t force me to talk to her again then I won’t have to run off! What’s your issue with this, anyway? When I say it’s over, it’s over!”

“So you’ll just leave Miyari heartbroken like that?”

Eiri gritted his teeth. What the hell was Nakano-sensei’s problem? Shuichi had said ‘no’! The teen was unaware of his clenched fists, more interested in following the hostile conversation.

“Then I guess she can get comfort from her other million lovers then! But I’m telling you, Hiro, if you push her on me, I’ll never talk to you again!” There was a loud sniff, “I don’t care anymore. I’m tired and I just want to decide things for myself from now on. Miyari’s not my problem anymore.”

“But what about--”

“No! I don’t care!” Eiri had to strain his ears to hear the last words, “Her influence, her power to make our dreams come true… those are not reasons to let her use me. The relationship doesn’t matter anymore!” and with that, déjà vu, Eiri found himself in the way of another dramatic exit. Shuichi had flung open the door intending to run, and instead smacked into the student.

The teen was still trying to make out what the conversation had been about when he realized his teacher was standing before him. His love’s pink brows were furrowed, lips bit in bitterness and eyes slightly puffy as the man tried to hold back the oncoming tears. Shuichi appeared to be even less stable than the last time something like this had happened.

Why the fuck can’t anyone leave the man alone?!

“Sensei--“ but before he could finish, Shuichi was off running. Eiri blinked and his sensei was already gone.


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


Eiri spent Monday night restlessly pacing his apartment.

When the hour had gone too late, he went to bed but slept fitfully. He awoke on Tuesday feeling grumpy and sour, but rushed to school to find his Sensei. Shuichi was not there and did not come to school that day. That afternoon Eiri went home feeling an aching sense of loss, his day was not complete without Shuichi.

That night he left the door unlock for his teacher, in case the man had lost or forgotten his key. Wednesday morning Eiri found Shuichi had not stepped into their apartment at all, and it was all he could think about the whole day.

A part of him wanted to figure out a way to have his papers checked and graded. The other part of him was preoccupied by thoughts of the missing Sensei and thinking of where else he might look or who to ask after him. It was so unlike Shuichi to miss class, he thought, thinking of the day he had substituted for his teacher to get the man to rest.

Where could he be?

That afternoon, he went home and found the building partially darkened due to a blown fuse. Some public areas and hallway lights were not functioning correctly. He felt it suited his mood perfectly, the dark shroud of his misery tightening around him.

On Thursday morning, not even the daylight could pierce the gloom in his soul and Eiri decided to skip school.

He wandered idly from room to room, his gaze passing over the evidence of Shuichi living here. He was worried, stressed, lonely… and cold. The warmth in his life, Shuichi himself, was not here and he felt a little lost without the teacher in his everyday life. He vowed that if he ever found the man, he’d smack the teacher upside the head for disappearing without warning then chain the fool to his side. Experiencing a little of what it was like to be without Shuichi was driving him mad.

He developed a massive headache. Not caring, he drank beer after beer and chain-smoked, lighting his next cigarette with the dying embers of the old one. Come afternoon, after a morning of restless pacing, he decided to sit and write thinking he might draw up some inspiration from old unfinished work. Instead, all he seemed to find were drabbles of dying girls and betrayal of men.

He smirked. What kind of moron would read this shit? he thought, incredulously. Ah, he supplied his own answer, all of Genesis Academy’s girls of course.

Eiri smiled at the memory of his playboy days, when all he had to do was bat an eye at a girl to have her running to him. He’d had a few well trained girls after a while; a whistle would mean he wanted two, and a smirk meant he planned on going on and on all night long…

He liked to remember how his smirk, that specific little grin, made some girls tremble. He wondered how Shuichi would tremble…

Those fanciful days were long gone since school had started that year; since Shindou Shuichi had come into his life. It had been a shock to him to learn that his over-demanding body had lasted without sex for the whole three months since. Soon, it would be four months. Four long months spent lusting after that little teacher.

In spite of his un-sated mad sexual desires, he found himself unable to settle for bedding anyone else. It was Shuichi he wanted and Shuichi he would have.

Of course, that made it all the more difficult , not being able to have the man he desired in bed, when his libido sprang to life at the sight of the teacher’s lithe form, those innocently enticing expressions and cute pouts. He could not have Shuichi, not yet, and was reduced to playing with his manhood to relieve his stress!

Mindlessly, he shutdown his laptop and leaned over to place his forehead on his desk. The Thursday afternoon light darkened into night, but the teen remained immobile.


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


“What the hell do you want?”

Those were Eiri’s first words Friday morning. Tatsuha took one look at his brother and was immediately intimidated, like always when his elder brother was pissed off as hell. There was no joke about that nasty snarl, either. Of course Tatsuha’s tongue could not be held down.

“Rough night? Where’s your teacher?”

Eiri suddenly remembered what had transpired earlier that week, his damn brother with an arm over his man. The same man whom he’d made perfectly clear to his young perverted sibling was HIS.

“You have three seconds to get out of my sight or--” he growled, but Tatsuha interrupted, despite the immediate danger.

The sixteen year old monk laughed nervously, “Oh! Y-yeah, that’s right, I forgot to tell you! You’re supposed to come visit Kyoto sometime soon!” Eiri’s frown deepened and he took a threatening step toward the younger man, and the teen cried out, “Mika’s pregnant right now and her condition’s delicate, so she couldn’t come down here herself, so she asked me to tell you that you’re coming!”

Poor Tatsuha. The fact was, his sister forced him here to face Eiri’s wrath. It was either hers or Eiri’s and at the time, the monk had agreed because he was hoping his brother’s fury would not be as dangerous as a pregnant woman’s rage. Unfortunately, he had caught his Aniki on a bad day.

Eiri slammed the door in his brother’s face and shouted through the door as he stormed down the hall, “You tell her I’m never going back there, you hear me you little shit? This is why you’ve been here? Well when you go back and tell Mika she’d have to go through a million miscarriages before I step foot in Kyoto!”

Eiri’s voice was far away down the hall now but the fact that the venom and words were still clearly audible meant there was no reasoning with the writer in his current state. He also knew how much his brother disliked their home town but that little comment had been a little too hurtful. He couldn’t mean that? And forget going back to Mika with her in her current state. He had to keep trying here.

“Aniki! It’s not that she wants to just push you into a family gathering!” Tatsuha called back, “We just want to help you! It’s hard for us to never see you, you know!”

“You can all move to Tokyo then!” Eiri snapped. “Now leave me the fuck alone!”

Eiri slammed the door to his study and rested against the door. Could the day get any worse?! Why did his family insist on him going back to Kyoto? Couldn’t they just let it be the way it was now?

“Fuckin--” The teen mumbled, biting his bottom lip. He was never going back to Kyoto. If he did, he knew exactly what would happen.

He’d start remembering what was best left forgotten.

The phone rang in the kitchen and when the machine picked up, Eiri heard his brother in law’s voice,

“Eiri-san. Are you alright? Tatsuha called me and I think it’s fine that you can’t come. Maybe Tatsuha shouldn’t have spring that to you like he did…” But that was all Eiri heard.

His three days old migraine painfully nagged at him and the teen clutched his forehead in frustration. Calm down, Eiri thought as he closed his eyes. He’d not felt so much anger and emotion welling in him in a long time, though the emotions themselves were not new. But this overload meant one thing and his psychiatrist had called it one word. Stress.

With a slight grunt, the teenager pushed himself up from the door and headed for the corner of his office. To the corner where a futon was spread and where his sensei’s scent lingered among the tidy sheets…

Eiri closed his eyes and was unable to remember if he ever made it to his heaven.


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


Eiri heard a faint click, but it took a few moments for it to register on him that it could be a burglar!

Great, he thought, but then again perhaps unleashing his temper a bit might get him out of his misery. Eiri could care less about the many things he had in the house, but what he did care about was his laptop with all of his ideas stored in it.

The teen opened his eyes and looked around. It wasn’t completely dark yet, as it showed between the curtains of the small office window. But there was no more orange light either, which meant he must have slept the day away. Momentarily forgetting the danger of startling the intruder, he grunted and struggled to sit up.

A pair of hands immediately shot out of the darkness and grasped Eiri’s shoulder, pushing him lightly back onto the pillow. He resisted a little, but the gentle touch was familiar. He lay back obediently when he heard the angelic voice of the man he missed most.

“You should rest Yuki-kun. You look awfully tired.”

Eiri blinked and his eyes finally adjusted to the dim light. His breathing eased at the sight of the pink haired head, those memorable violet eyes and the warm smile he’d missed. The younger man closed his eyes, trying to remain calm and keep his heart from jumping up his throat.

The sight of the man unsettled him, this man he’d worried so much about. He wanted to ask where Shuichi had been, to be angry for not saying anything, so many things he wanted to do. But the sight of the man made him happy, despite all the churning emotions. If this wasn’t the ‘L’ word, Eiri wouldn’t know what was.

The student wanted nothing more than to nuzzle the soft hands that brushed his bangs aside off his face, but he remained motionless. When the ministration didn’t stop, he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed into his Sensei’s comforting touch. Even his breathing eased and, miraculously, so did his migraine.

“I missed you,” the teen whispered. “I waited and worried, you know! You shouldn’t do that to me.” He started a little when he realized what he’d said, and he noticed the teacher’s hand had stopped on his forehead. He kept his eyes closed and moved on to another topic, something easier to discuss.

“K-sensei left the country due to an emergency,” he muttered, wanting Shuichi to resume stroking his hair. “He hadn’t checked my papers, and I haven’t finished my last essay…”

Shuichi’s hand withdrew, but Eiri couldn’t open his eyes to see the expression on his Sensei’s face. He whispered,

“I’m sorry, Sensei.” With that, he turned his back on the older man. Facing the wall, Eiri mentally berated himself for his stupidity. The teacher would quickly realize the implications, that there wasn’t going to be a date. That which Eiri had been looking forward to the most, what he’d dreamt of for two weeks --it was gone. His only chance to have the man he wanted, he’d allowed to slip away because he had been foolish. Eiri wasn’t sure which part he did wrong, but what did it matter?

There was a series of ruffling and muffled movements, then the student felt hot air breathing on his shoulder and a body pressing along his back. Shuichi had moved to lie down behind him, pressing close while two delicate arms slipped around his body to rest lightly on his chest.

What? What was happening?

He couldn’t understand how his Sensei had known what he had needed most right now. He didn’t understand it, but within the warmth of that embrace, his heart beating triple time, Eiri felt that things were going to be alright. How could they not when next, Shuichi spoke the words he had never thought to hear?

“Take me on a date, Yuki-kun?” Shuichi mumbled into his nape, gently but tightly holding the student, his breath sending sparks skittering down the student’s spine. “You’ve been so stressed you deserve more than I could ever give you. Will you take me out? How about this Sunday?”

Eiri let a few minutes of silence pass. He had given up on calming his raging heart, he could never control how the teacher affected him. Instead he reached up and took a hold of Shuichi’s small shaking fingers.

“Sunday,” he agreed, and added, “Okaeri.”

“Tadaima,” replied the teacher softly. The student could hear the smile in the man’s voice.

Feeling as though everything in the world somehow made sense again, his migraine completely gone, Eiri let himself slip into slumber. Friday night, he slipped away into dreamland within Shuichi’s embrace, their fingers twined together.


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


AN: Hey yo!!! Sorry for the late update! But hopefully Chapter Eight would be here soon! And guess what?! Well…you’re suppose to guess, but hopefully I’ll deliver on what’s everyone been waiting for. A DATE right? Wait…^^ I hope that’s what everyone been giddy about!

Lol. A few review answers:

Solitaire- WHAT?! You WANT Shu to be seme? Hole schmolie! That’s a lot to think about- it’s making me all energetic now! Lol. Thanks for enjoying!

Motoko- Aw shucks! Thankies for the comment! It makes me blush! So happy you and so many more are appreciating my fanfiction! I have to say this has got to be one of my best! (Only cause I have the greatest BETA)

ANKuma- Thnks for reading. Now about your question- yes. There will be more details of Kitazawa- however, if not, he is mentioned because it’s important in the future^^

Everyone else from Gurabite, thanks for the support! Due continue to review if you’ve time ^__^

From AFF.net

Devils-advocate3- Hee hee. I must say your review is one of the top five I ENJOYED MOST. I was laughing so hard at how well you understood my fic! I did have trouble holding myself back from making the man ravish his man… Heh. Heh. Don’t worry. Hiro’s a good guy, a little cynical jerk he can be, he wants the best for Shu.

Teania- Thanks for reminding! I’ll get on that later ^_^

Libe- Yay! I feel so honored to have you say that. It’s most refreshing to hear that from readers!

Katbites- Don’t worry, when you’ve turned into a pile of chocolatey goo, I’ll make you into a statue to give to poor ol’ Shu, or Eiri^^

Everyone else. Thankies! I know no one reviews much in AFF but you guys are the best of the best readers!

Now on to my favorite site! FF!

Lies- I know what you mean. I’ve been running in the same problem for quite some time too! Please keep reading and reviewing! I enjoyed the long review!

o2xquisite- Well, in the second chapter, or was it third? Maybe it was the first…Shuichi says he’s twenty-two, then Eiri says Shu’s only four years his senior- which would mean he is eighteen. ^_^ I’m sorry if I was confusing, but I really don’t like writing down the age since they’ve never helped me. I guess I’m wrong! Thanks for reading!

Llpeez- I want shu too as my teacher!

Kanoi-chan- Thanks for the review and hoped you liked this chapter too,

Em-chan- Hee hee. So you’ve noticed. I’m just waiting for them to get soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo close they won’t be able to keep their hands off each other! *cackles*


Okay! Please review/recommend/ put on alert/ whatever ^_^ I’ll have the date up soon, but I need reviews to make me smile in the meanwhile! Oh- and another thing, give thanks to Tsubaki~ she is a great writer/beta. You guys should check out her angst. It’s so heartwarming/breaking/warming?