Transaction

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author’s Notes: Hey again! Here we are at chapter seventy one. We've come such a long way since the beginning, I can't even express how happy I am about this story. Now, I was going to have Kel do A/Ns for almost every chapter from here on. Unfortunately, her shcool has recently dumped an assload of work on her because it's the end of the year and finals and whatnot.

This chapter should shock some of you. I dunno. We'll see. Thanks for the few reviews we've gotten over the last few weeks while we've been in a bit of a mess with updating. We really appreciate it!

Enjoy!
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Transaction
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Chapter Seventy-One
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"I don't know what your problem is!" He finally burst out in exasperation, throwing up his hands and pacing the well worn circle around Tohma's office again. Taki sighed, giving Tohma a sharp glare from the corner of his eye. "A park appearance isn't going to kill them. It's only going to boost their popularity and sell out their next sequence of concerts!"

Tohma knew that. Taki didn't understand why giving him the control he needed with his band was so hard to do. It hadn't been before, and it was, in fact, only this week that Tohma had tightened his grip and made it impossible to change schedule. Opium had been in studio, locked up tight, and nothing Taki said could get them out of it.

Tohma was looking out the large window that was pretty much the final wall of his office. The view was gorgeous. A million dollar view a realtor would call it, no doubt. Sometimes, he liked to think that there were other businessmen and women bored at work looking out their windows and there were meeting each others eyes, but they'd never realize it. They could know each other, but never meet.

It was an interesting thought.

Taki was still here. Still arguing his decision. That was just like Taki, wasn't it? Always loud, always had to have the last word.

"Seguchi-san?" It was Aki's voice from the intercom.

He swiveled his chair to face the desk and hit the button. "Yes, Aki?"

"Your wife is on line one."

"I'm in a talk with Aizawa-san. Is it important?" he asked in a bored. He wanted to go out.

"She's surprisingly calm, sir. She says you can call her back later if you want, but she'd rather talk to you now."

"I'll take it."

He held up a hand to Taki telling him to keep quiet as he picked up the desk phone and hit the blinking button connecting him with his wife.

It had been a week of conversations just like this one. Taki felt the snub like it had been a direct blow to the face. His arms crossed over his chest and the slight scowl on his face deepened.

Bastard. There was no other word that could fit the scathing way he felt toward Tohma right now. It rolled off the tongue, all harsh tones and sharp stops.

Bastard!

He was so tired of being ignored, and for no reason! He hadn't done anything unusual, he hadn't crossed any boundaries that he wasn't allowed, and Tohma was acting as if he were a disobedient child!

The couch caught him as he threw himself down onto it, and his glare was harsh. He knew if he did it long enough, Tohma would have to look at him.

Tohma turned back towards the window instead as he listened to his wife's voice on the phone. He sat poised and cross legged in the chair, brow furrowing ever so slightly. He felt his mouth pinch in the corners and he nodded his head, though only Taki was there to see it.

"Alright, so what happened?" he asked, leaning back deeply into the leather chair. He heard it creak just slightly underneath him.

Half of him wanted to hang up. After all, Mika seemed to be taking too long at getting around to the point. He was making soft encouraging noises into the receiver. The other half of him wanted to know what she was talking.

Mika was usually a hard and abrasive woman. On the outside, almost hard to love. In reality, since he had known her when they were young, she wasn't always like that. She had to become like that. Right now, it was like talking to a high school version Mika all over again. Her voice was light and she giggled and she sounded so excited.

But, all she was telling him was how sick she had gotten on her week away. The throwing up, the cramping, et cetera.

"Tohma?"

"Yes, Mika?" the blond answered, sitting up straighter. Like she'd caught him zoning out.

"We're pregnant!"

The blond sat, shocked and unable to think of a thing to say.

"Honey, I'm so happy," Tohma said, almost dazed. "Let me finish up here at work and I'll be home right away."

A minute or two more and he hung up. Getting out of his seat, he went to the window and looked out at the city. Amazing view.

It wasn't working.

Taki squelched the emotional urge to get up and leave. There was something oddly personal about the silence in the office, and that seemed to press him back against the couch, unable to move.

It also pissed him off, and the feeling that he was unwanted here made it impossible to stay still.

With what had to be too much effort, he sat up, uncrossed his arms, and summoned what was left of his rationality to gain a steady voice. "Tohma?"

It probably wasn't a good idea to break the silence. It was probably a really bad idea. But, he did it anyway, and was proud when his voice didn't shake and wobble, which he'd feared it would as it came out.

The blond turned away from that window. The one he had made specifically for his office. At the time, it had felt like his way to the outside world he'd never felt apart of. And it made him feel safe at the same time.

He felt as though he was moving in slow motion. That little turn of head. Then his shoulders followed suit with his arms and waist and finally legs, looking at Taki sitting on the couch. He didn't want to say anything about the conversation. He suddenly felt the weight of his marriage and how it affected his other relationships. The ball and chain was a real feeling, and he'd never known it until now.

Feeling as though he were swimming through the silence of the office. He thought about Mika. Tried to piece it together and the timeframe fit. That one night when'd been lonely because Taki had shut him out. The one time he'd felt a need for comfort and went to his wife. Taken her to his bed. She knew he was no good with emotional comfort. His emotions were through his body, and when he couldn't describe them, he was best comforted by taking someone to bed.

That one night.

And suddenly, he felt like he'd lost his entire life. Everything he'd earn and gain was for nothing now that he had to lose it all.

Tohma found himself sitting next to Taki on the couch. He pulled the other man close to him and wish he felt confident enough to talk about this. See what would happen. Just sit there and hold the dark haired man that he'd put through so much...

This is what regret felt like.

Instead of words, he looked at Taki and saw the dark eyes that seemed to grow worried as they looked at him, still tinged slightly with the dark line of anger. Tohma lowered his head and pressed his lips against Taki's.

His brow furrowed against the kiss, but Taki couldn't bring himself to pull away from it. There was something soft and intimate about it. Like Tohma was convinced that this would be the last kiss they had.

It made Taki nervous, and his frown only deepened even as his hands came up to the back of Tohma's neck. There was something wrong with this, and he knew it. He didn't know what, but was more than sure that it had to do with the phone call from Tohma's wife.

And that irked him, more than it should. Mika was something to Tohma that he could never be. She was important, official, someone he could walk around with and not hide the relationship between them. It struck him that because of Mika, because of that relationship (a marriage, he reminded himself), it didn't matter how close he and Tohma became.

Eventually, they would have to part ways, and stop being what they were.

Eyes squeezing shut, Taki pressed himself closer to Tohma, determined now not to think anymore.
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Authors Notes: Hi! Did we see this one coming? I'm not sure. I'd love some feedback. This really was a spur of the moment plan because then we decided we wanted a sequel. Either way, I thought this was very shocking, yet stuck to the originial just a bit. I know Mika's pregnancy comes up during the manga and this is based two years after that, but creative license allows me to make her magically pregnant now.

I'm just magic like that.

Now, here's where I'd have Kel's A/N, but like I said, an assload of work. What I do have planned, which I haven't put up to Kel yet is that for the very last chapter we'll probably do a huge overview to talk about a lot of things in the story that we'd like to share with you guys. It'll probably get a little random, I may put in a few snipits of past convos and things if I feel like it. I really would like for you guys to see how our 'creative process' works.

Needless to say, it involved many late nights and a lot of sugar. I'm sure you'll all get a good laugh!

Drop us a line!

~Subby