| Fanfic Info | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five: Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight: Part One - Part Two | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve: Part One - Part Two |


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Chapter Nine

Winston pushed the large glass double doors open and held them in place for the other six people to enter the shopping mall. “Whoa, I’ve never seen this place so empty.” He said in an astounded voice and looked into the mall quickly. A few older adults hustled between the shops carrying various brand bags and most window shoppers were looking at oseibo gift-boxes.

“That’s because it’s 8:15 in the fuckin’ morning on a Tuesday.” Yusuke growled out and stomped through the entrance sluggishly. He had on a large coat, baggy pants, a hat, and sunglasses just like the rest of the boys; completely incognito. They had no choice. Tuesday morning or no, people were bound to notice them if they walked around in their normal attire.

Hisato snickered at his brother’s particularly bitter tone. “You didn’t have to come, ya know.” He said and stepped out of the way so that Yû and Kyohei could enter the mall behind him.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and shot a nasty look at his twin. “Did I get up this morning on my own? Tell me, did I? Nooooooo. You came barging in at 7:30 and tackled my bed! How was I supposed to go back to sleep after that???” He asked displeased.

Kyohei walked through doors before Hisato had a chance to defend himself and stared at the group. “Uh… don’t you think we should get out of the entrance way?” He motioned at the doors, which were about to be used by five elderly women.

“Yes! Move move! Start walking and look normal!” FLAME’s manager proclaimed in a low tone, gripping hold of the nearest person (who just happened to be Yû) and pulling them discreetly along with him.

Yû’s eyes widened as he was tugged into moving and sent a quick ‘help me!’ glance back at Hisato, who simply snickered and followed his boyfriend and manager.

“Do we have to stick together?” Yusuke asked as he walked with the others. He wanted to get away from the group, away from Kyohei, if only for a short time. He hadn’t so much as purposefully chanced a glimpse at the other boy since supper the night before. He just couldn’t. He was afraid that turning his back on their entire situation like he had done was not going to work… and he didn’t know what to do.

He needed the time and space to think clearly-- if that was even entirely possible anymore. His mind was in pandemonium. He fought it but he could feel the regret for turning Kyohei away starting to crawl into his senses. Especially last night after what Kyohei had said to him at the dinner table about his ‘reasons’. //“Believe me, they’re not as insignificant as you think.”// Yusuke ran his tongue over his teeth in frustration. //Kyo, you have no idea what I think.//

Sakamoto took a few moments to deliberate. Everyone could tell he didn’t want the group to go off on their own, he never did-- not that it ever stopped them-- and finally replied. “I guess not, but I want us all to meet back by the entrance steps no later than 11:45. That should give you all loads of time to shop and us plenty of time to get out of here before the lunch crowd hits.” He said and released Yû’s arm, who discreetly glided his way to stand beside Hisato.

“Great!!!” Winston chirped. Well, chirped as best as a 230lb British-American bodyguard could chirp. “I have some things to get for you guys!”

“What?” Yû asked puzzled, but the large man was gone before the sound waves reached anyone’s ears.

“Huh. I wonder what he’s up to.” Hisato pondered and looked over at his boyfriend who shrugged and said something about ‘hoping it was food related.’

Five seconds after receiving Sakamoto’s approval Yusuke turned his back and walked off, not sparring a glance at anyone. He really didn’t need his manager’s permission to separate from the group-- he would have done it anyway-- but at least this way he wouldn’t get hassled. He was in no mood for being bossed around and would probably retaliate with a few very nastily placed words.

Getting away from everyone would be the most relaxing thing for him. The peace and quiet of his own existence was all Yusuke could stand. He walked past shop after shop in his departure, never stopping to go inside any of the Christmas decorated entrances. He wasn’t going to buy anything because he was an extremely cheap person; he just wanted to find a nice quiet spot to think.

Or not think. Whichever came first.

Kyohei stared off at Yusuke’s retreating back and swallowed hard against the tightness in his throat. Goddamn this was harder than he ever thought it would be. He wanted to hurt Yusuke. Kyohei wanted to pretend the twin’s head was a basketball and slam it into a brick wall. He sought out to make Yusuke feel with the same insufferable pain, to have his body throb with the same unshakable ache, to desire with the same ignited longing that Kyohei himself battled with.

But at the same time another part of him fought to rush after Yusuke and beg for the older boy to change his mind, to take him back and make everything the way it was supposed to be. Because he felt like things weren’t meant to be any other way.

---

Hisato stared at Yû as they walked together through the straight lanes of the mall, every now and then pulling his boyfriend out of the way from colliding with the sparse bodies that got in their way. Why did he have to do this? Because Kitamu was hunting out a place to pick up ‘breakfast’ and his attention was set on nothing else, not even walking.

“Baby, we’ve already eaten.” Hisato pointed out, simultaneously pulling Yû toward his body to keep the boy from bumping into a wooden bench.

Yû snorted and shifted his eyes around the mall, looking for a good shop. “That wasn’t breakfast.”

“We had udon.” Hisato began, “And a lot of it! I think you even ate my share.”

Kitamu stayed silent and thought for a second, before shrugging. “Well, then I’m just still hungry.”

Hisato chuckled. “When are you not?” He practically asked to himself as Yû abruptly stopped, shot across in front of him and into a snack shop. The older boy followed and shook his head when he saw Yû place four bags of assorted gummy candies on the counter. He happily paid the price for them then proceeded to Hisato, handing the boy the plastic shopping bag. Candy. Before 9:00AM. Hisato took it and shook his head in an ‘if I didn’t love you so much…’ sort of way.

They exited the store and started walking to no place in particular when Hisato felt the bag in his hands rustle and Yû pull out a package of grape gummies. He tore the wrapper open and began munching contently.

“What is with you and gummy candies?” Izza asked. He’d never actually known why they always had some sort of squishy, pliable candy laying around their hotel room at all times for Yû’s consumption. He’d never really placed much thought into the subject.

The younger boy shrugged and popped a little round purple candy into his mouth. “I dunno.” He said. “I just like them. They seem like the perfect candy, once I think about it. They take a while to eat, but if I bite them I don’t have to worry about breaking a tooth.” He nibbled on the edge of a candy to show his point, then plopped it into his mouth. “Plus, they are a lot like you.”

Hisato raised a brow and reached over, sticking his hand into Kitamura’s bag and pulling out a gummy candy. He stared at it for a long moment, trying to figure out what his boyfriend was talking about. Obviously Yû was beginning to go crazy-- that was the only conclusion Hisato could come to. Finally, he caved, just like he always did, and asked. “Ok, I give. How does this remind you of me?” He held the candy up to his face for comparison and shook it a little.

Yû grinned widely and moved his hand up, plucking the grape flavored disc from Hisato’s long fingers, examining it as they walked. “Well, like you they’re nice and sweet, but not easy to manipulate or sugary. They’re soft, but not flimsy. They come in many colors, but the taste never really changes…”

“And they look fragile, but they’re hard to break.” Hisato added in, masking the covert meaning in his voice. He swiftly grabbed the candy from Yû and plopped it into his waiting mouth, smirking as he chewed.

“I never thought of that one.” Yû replied, casting his eyes to the side to stare at Hisato, who looked mockingly offended by his reply.

“You mean you think I’m breakable??? Now, hear this you over-sexed alpha male,” Izza pointed an accusing finger toward the other boy, “I’m no ‘damsel in distress.’”

Yû laughed out loud at this. “Hardly! You’d need a ‘knight in shining armor’ to be one of those.” He replied and fought back giggles at the thought of Izza wearing a dress, waiting in a tower for some strapping young Brit on a horse to rescue him. The sequence of events that were sure to follow would most likely resemble the movie ‘Shrek’ rather than ‘Rapunzel’.

Hisato turned his head to the side a bit and stared at his sniggering boyfriend. “Wait a sec.” He began, pondering on a thought. “Let’s suppose that I were a ‘damsel in distress.’ Are you telling me that you aren’t already my ‘knight’?!” He asked in a half-serious, half-playful voice.

“I’m not exactly ‘knight’ material.” Yû chuckled, shaking his head and placing another gummy in his mouth. He had never considered himself anything more than what he was. He may have been a good person and had a sense of honor, but a ‘king-of-olde-knight’ he was not.

“I’m not exactly ‘damsel’ material either, but for argument’s sake humor me.” Hisato said, poking his boyfriend in the shoulder. Sometimes he couldn’t help it; deep down he was a true romantic and he jumped at any chance he got to hear his boyfriend express his devotion.

Yû chewed on his candy and waved his hand, knowing it was pointless to try and deter Hisato from this ridiculous topic. “Sure, I’m your ‘knight.’”

Izza felt a shiver slip down his long spine. “Always?” He asked, his voice lowering considerably.

Yû turned his head at the sudden seductive, yet very out of character shift in the tone of Hisa’s voice and stared at the deep brown eyes through the slightly dim sunglasses. “Yeah… always.” He replied and Hisato’s eyes glazed over with total bliss at the answer. Caught off-guard by the expression, Yû fell into a on foot-comatose and didn’t notice the large metal poll before him.

“Uh, Yû--”

“Whoa ah!” Yû gasped, barely managing to swerve around the iron post in time. “That was way too close!”

“Shows what you get for oogling me in the middle of the mall.” Hisato winked.

Yû scowled. “As if you ever give me much of a choice.”

---

I take a right and turn into a short, but secluded sitting area, where three benches reside next to two large leafy potted plants. I notice there is a girl sitting on the bench closest to the entrance to the alleyway, but I ignore her, hoping she’ll bestow me with the same courtesy. I walk to the farthest bench back, the one closest to the juncture of the three white concrete walls of the boxed-in area. Taking a seat, I place my elbows on my knees and lean forward with my head bowed down.

My thoughts instantly turn to Kyohei. I can’t get him out of my mind no matter how hard I try. I can distract myself with whatever I want to and try to out run his memory, but he always finds his way back into my mainstream thoughts. Somehow I find that I like to think about him. I really do. Kyohei-- before yesterday-- was a pleasant and taunting idea, like staring at birthday presents a week before you’re allowed to open them.

But now… now he’s simply a beautifully excruciating memory. If only he knew what he did to me… what he’s still doing to me, even from this far away, even after what I said to him. I don’t know how I hold together around him. And I also have no clue why I think I can’t hold together around him.

I’m just confusing myself even more. I’m supposed to be the strong one, the leader, the person with all of the answers. The guy who doesn’t let anything stand in his way, the responsible one who makes everything work out. I’m the person that everyone wants to be in good with; I make others feel secure because I always know what I’m doing. I’m not supposed to be confused.

It’s not in my character.

Nevertheless, Kyohei unknowingly waltzed into my mind and botched all of that up. At least I’m hoping he didn’t know that he was quickly turning me into a horny and emotionally perplexed bastard. Because if he’d planned all of this out right from the beginning, I would first praise him for becoming a master manipulator and then I’d kill him on sheer principle.

I kind of wish he had planned all of this out now. It would give me the perfect excuse to forget any of this ever happened and give me the ideal reason to not feel guilty about it.

Given that I do feel guilty. I don’t want him to hate me; I’m doing enough of that for the both of us. But I know, I know I did the right thing…

I should have never slept with him. Not under any circumstance should I have caved into my desires and fucked Kyohei. I majorly screwed up. So, so, so badly. This has got to be one of the top five Mess-Up’s in the history of my life.

And I liked it! Ugh! I truly, indescribably loved being with him. There was something about touching and holding him that felt different from all of my other sexual encounters in the past. I think it was the familiarity of knowing it was Kyohei that I was with, the forbidden feeling that came over me every time I kissed him and knowing at the same time that I wasn’t supposed to. It fueled my desire for him and overpowered my will to stop my actions.

I’d do it again many more times if not for this whole damned moral issue. Kyohei is my bandmate, one of my best friends, and someone I’m going to have to be around and work with for a long time to come. I won’t let our personal situation affect our professional careers and future friendship. I have got to let this go! I abruptly let my head fall to meet my arms on my legs in despair.

I will let this go. I got what I wanted and that should be the end of it. I can’t keep getting hung up on him at each turn. I will let go of the memories of our first kiss and the way his lips yielded under mine almost instantly… the way he let me move over his body with such ease… the pain of his fingers digging into my shoulder and the taste of his skin on my tongue...

Yeah, as if anything in life is that easy to forget.

“Excuse me, but are you alright?”

I slowly pull my head up to see the very girl who was sitting on the first bench at the head of the alley when I walked in. She looks Asian, has very short ebony hair, large dark blue eyes, and stands about 175cm tall. She is dressed in a black-and-pink bow sweaterdress with black round-toe ankle-strap high-heels. She looks down generally concerned at me and I nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I reply, lying through my teeth.

She furrows her brow. “Are you sure? You let your head fall pretty hard. Not that you hurt yourself, but signs like that normally signal a need to talk.”

I lean back and shake my head. “No, really, I’m fine. Just tired.” I offer a weak smile to confirm my statement.

“Oh, well, if you say so.” The girl takes a seat beside me and offers out her hand. “I’m Kail,” she mocks the old James Bond impression and pretends to shake her hair out of her face, “Ayame Kail.” She makes the sign for a gun with her other hand and holds it to her face, raising her eyebrow.

I furrow my brow at the awkward western gesture, but take her hand anyway. “You’re not from around here, I take.” //And you also have a weird sense of humor.//

Ayame shakes my hand and replies, “Yeah, my family and I just moved here from Navada. Dad’s in telecommunications.” She releases my hand and leans back on the bench, turning to stare at me. “And you are…?”

She doesn’t know who I am? Well, of course she doesn’t; she just moved here from Navada. But her Japanese is perfect. “Yusuke Izaki.”

“Cool name.” She smirks and tilts her head to look at the ceiling. “Soooo… if nothing is bothering you Mr. Yusuke Izaki, why are you sitting in a dark passageway with your head between your hands and huffing like a steam train?”

I twist my head quickly to look at her, my eyes narrowing. “I was not ‘huffing.’” I say in defense.

Ayame laughs at me and inclines her neck to the side to glance at me. “If you say so.”

I practically glare at her for insinuating that I was doing something I know I couldn’t have been doing… I think. I roll my eyes and sigh. “ Whatever.” I’m in no mood to deal with this right now. Maybe if I ignore her she’ll go away.

I can feel her eyes on me and her hand gently lands on my shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? I don’t know you, you don’t know me, maybe I can help you.” She asks and I work my jaw.

“No, I just…” I begin, “… really don’t want to talk about it right now.” I shrug her hand off of my shoulder and stand to leave. “No offense, but I just want to be alone.”

“If that’s what you want. Oh, hey, wait a sec.” Ayame raises with me and pulls out a piece of pink paper and a liquid point pen. “Here’s my cell number.” She quickly scribbles down a few numbers and hands me the note. I stare at her puzzled and she waves her hand. “You may not want to talk about ‘it’ right now, but you might change your mind later.”

I look at the paper and fold it, placing it in my pocket. “Yeah, maybe.”

---

Kyohei reached down and pulled out one of the heavy metal chairs from underneath the table, cringing at the annoying scrape the legs made on the tile floor. He pushed the chair back with his foot before taking a seat, leaning uncomfortably onto the poorly padded backing. He chose a small western style café that resembled a Starbucks, but was a lot less populated. A waitress came to his table before he could even pick up a menu.

“Hello, sir!” She said happily and bowed. “I’m Mai, I’ll be your waitress today. Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Uh…” Kyohei began and reached for a menu, opening it and scanning his eyes quickly over the glossy surface. “I’ll have the… um…” He really didn’t know much about western coffee, he normally just drank whatever Yusuke or Yû ordered. “How’s the Hazelnut Café Mocha?”

“Very good, sir. It’s one of my personal favorites.” Mai said sweetly.

“Then I’ll have that.” Kyohei smiled at her and she smiled back. “And a box of Orfelio Truffles as well.”

She jotted down the order and paused, “La Maison du Chocolat Truffles? A whole box?” Her voice was slightly astonished.

Kyohei nodded and closed the menu, placing it back into it’s glass holder. He did know his truffles even if he didn’t know his coffee.

“Alright! I’ll be right back with your mocha and chocolate!” Mai squeaked and walked off to get his order.

Kyohei let out a sigh and ran his tongue across his lips as he reached up and rubbed the tight muscles of his neck. He was so tired… even on his break he was tired. “She’s not that bad, you know.” A deep German accent said in English.

Shocked, Kyohei looked up to see a tall and quiet frankly gorgeous young man standing before him. He was about twenty years old with very short spiked brown hair and light green eyes. He wore an unbuttoned long black cashmere Gucci coat over a black chain stripe london line suit. His shoes were fine black leather moccasins that had silver hardware and even a watch to match. His entire outfit looked worth more than Kyohei’s entire career.

“Uh…” Was all he could get out. //Whoa. He’s hot…// Kyoppe thought to himself before words came to his mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that some people in this country can’t speak English.” The man said in Japanese. “With all of the Americanized propaganda I always assume that everyone can understand me.” He offered an embarrassed tooth baring smile and Kyohei felt his knees fall weak under him. Thank goodness he was sitting down. “I’m Merik.” He bowed and Kyohei nodded back, still in a daze.

Merik stood for a moment, crossing his arms and seemed to be waiting for something, but Kyohei was in no mind to think about what he might have wanted. He was fully engrossed in checking him out. After a few seconds of waiting, Merik finally spoke. “Mind if I have a seat?” He gestured toward the empty chair across from the younger boy.

“Oh! Uh, yeah, sure. Please.” Kyohei said quickly and felt like banging his head into the glass surface of the table for his stupidity. If Yusuke could only see him now. He’d never take him back, if the option was ever open in the first place. “I’m Kyohei.”

“Hello Kyohei.” Merik smirked and removed his coat before taking a seat at the table. “As I was saying, Mai’s not that bad. She’s just naturally… peppy.” He clasped his hands together, placing his forearms on the table and leaning on them.

Kyohei raised an eyebrow at the well-dressed man. “It has nothing to do with the fact the she works in a caffeine shop?” He jested, leaning back into his chair.

Merik locked his eyes with Kyohei and chuckled. “Nope, none what so ever.”

Lost almost instantly in the bright, stunning, and seductive green eyes of Merik, Kyohei fought to breathe. Was Merik flirting with him??? Before he could come to an answer, Mai arrived at the table with a tray and began passing out the order.

“One Hazelnut Café Mocha and box of Orfelio Truffles.” She handed the two items to Kyohei, who took them with a nod of thanks. “And one cappuccino with a double-chocolate cream éclair, as usual.” She held out the tray and allowed Merik to take the two dishes off on his own. “Will that be all?”

Taking the small spoon from his coffee dish, Kyohei stirred his drink, tasting it briefly before nodding. “Yes, thank you.”

“Merik?”

“Yep, I’m good.”

“Alright! Well, I’ll be back over with the checks shortly.” Mai stated and walked off, leaving the two people alone.

Kyohei sipped at his coffee slowly, not looking up from the table. It tasted good and the warmth was a refreshing feeling as it slid down his throat. He grasped hold of the brown truffle box and undid the hunter green ribbon that was wrapped around it with one hand. He pulled the lid off and reached in, taking hold of a caramel chocolate and biting into it. He moaned happily at the flavor.

“Not many people order an entire box of French chocolate when they come in for coffee.” Merik spoke up and began cutting into his éclair with his fork.

Kyohei shrugged and finished off the truffle before speaking. “I’m having a bad day.”

“You most certainly don’t look like it.” Merik replied and stabbed his fork into the piece of doughnut he’d just cut off. “You look better than I do.” He said tauntingly and placed the bit of food into his open mouth, chewing slowly.

//He’s definitely flirting.// Kyoppe stared over the rim of his sunglasses at the man and could feel himself start to drool. //And doing a damn good job…// “Thank you, but my day… week… has really sucked.”

Merik laughed at this. “It sucked enough to warrant $180 worth of truffles?”

Kyohei sighed and dug his hand into the box once more, pulling out a moka flavored ball. “Oh yeah…” He tossed the chocolate into his mouth and shook his head at the flood of memories that this topic induced. Memories of Yusuke kissing him, touching him, pushing him away. “And much, much more.”

“I see.” Merik nodded, sipping gently at his cappuccino. He stared that the top of the Japanese boy’s capped head and swallowed. “Although I don’t think that your day-- or week-- could top mine in the World of the Suckiest.”

Kyohei had to giggle at Merik’s choice of words. “Try me.” He replied.

“Okay.” Merik stabbed his fork into his éclair to free his hands for talking. “I’m the assistant marketing director for Gucci here in Japan.”

“That would explain the outfit.” Kyohei gestured to the older man’s expensive attire.

“Yeah… and it’s damn hot too.” Merik sighed. “Anyway, the spring marketing plan is in the works and for some god awful reason-- and I have no idea what she’s been smoking-- my boss thinks that ‘red’ is a good color for the main spring advertising.” Merik let out an exasperated groan, as if this decision was the end of his life.

“Red? As in ‘ruby red’ or ‘blood red’ or…?”

“As in ‘fire engine red.’” He said flatly, staring at Kyohei with raised eyebrows.

Kyohei pursed his lips to hold back a grin. “Ah, yeah… that’s bad.”

“‘Bad’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. I understand that the Japanese have a very… interesting… sense of fashion and allow many would-be marketing tragedies to slip by, but advertising Gucci in the theme of ‘fire engine red’ would be disastrous! Can you imagine? My God, I’d never live it down.” Merik hung his head low, hinting that his situation was hopeless.

“So your week sucked because of that?” Kyohei asked, hardly thinking Merik’s problem even came close to the one he faced regarding Yusuke.

Merik shook his head and sat up straight in his chair once more. “Oh no, no. My week sucked because someone dropped an opened bottle of Coke into the front seat of my Porsche.”

The younger boy couldn’t hold back and laughed. “Now that does suck.”

“Told you I’d win.” Merik winked and began eating his éclair again, keeping his eyes focused intently on Kyohei.

Kyohei watched the other man gracefully eat, their eyes locked together, and came to an anxious conclusion. If Yusuke didn’t want him, then maybe this was the someone that did.

---

Yusuke pushed the door to his and Kyohei’s hotel room open and trudged in, not even bothering to take off his shoes at the entrance. He had just ended a full day of what was supposed to be ’relaxation’. Yes… first shopping for nearly three hours, then lunching on a roof 30 stories above the ground for an hour in December, afterwards they had played paintball for three hours, and once finished they rode back to the hotel. FLAME had all just completed eating dinner, which Sakamoto-sama had cooked and practically demanded that they finish. It was good, Yusuke had no complaints.

Well, about the food anyway. Yusuke shifted his eyes back without turning his neck to implicate Kyohei in his thoughts. The younger boy had seemed different after they met back up 11:45 that morning. He wasn’t angry or melancholy anymore. He seemed… happy… wait, no, that’s not possible. If Yusuke wasn’t happy, then Kyohei shouldn’t be. That wasn’t right.

Kyohei walked in behind the older boy and closed the door, slipping his shoes off right after. He sat the brown paper bag that he carried on the floor as he removed his jacket and hung it on the coat rack along with his scarf. He was physically and mentally exhausted and only wanted to get in bed and chill out. Suddenly a cell phone rang and Kyohei instantly recognized it as his own. He rummaged around in his pockets for the little silver contraption, which he figured out wasn’t in the many compartments of his pants. He turned his attention to his coat and slipped his hand into the main front pocket where his fingers encountered the phone.

Looking at the front display panel, Kyohei bit his lip. He hadn’t expected to get this call around Yusuke… but then again, taking it in front of the older boy would only prove that Kyohei was fine with Yusuke’s decision and he wasn’t going to let it drag him down. Kyohei pressed the ‘talk’ button and answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey handsome-- I mean, Kyohei.” Merik’s German accented Japanese filtered through the receiver of the phone and Kyohei chuckled.

“Hey Merik.” Kyohei replied in his smoothest voice, inadvertently trying to draw Yusuke’s attention toward him. And it worked. Yusuke instantly froze in place, his coat gripped in one hand and his eyes locked on his bed spread. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon…”

The tone of Kyohei’s voice almost sickened Yusuke. ‘Merik?’ Who the fuck was that? A new boyfriend? He threw his coat heavily on the bed and swiftly sat down beside it, his back to Kyohei. God, this was so wrong. Yusuke rubbed his temples and pursed his lips. He didn’t want to sit and listen to Kyohei flirt with this Merik person… then again he did…

“Tomorrow? Really?” Kyohei asked incredulously.

//“Tomorrow? Really?”// Yusuke mocked in his head and pretended to be messing around with his own cell phone while the other boy spoke behind him.

“No, no, I’m free.” Kyohei said and stared hard at Yusuke’s back. “Yeah, I’d love to have dinner with you.” Kyohei could see the lines of Yusuke’s shoulders heave upwards and tense.

“20:00 okay with you?” Merik asked and Kyohei nodded to himself.

“That’s perfect. Will you be picking me up or will I be taking a cab?”

“Don’t be absurd. Of course I’ll be picking you up. I’m not going to let my date take a cab. What kind of gentleman would I be then?” The older man asked jokingly. “Plus, it’ll be damn hard to woo you with my sexy car if you take a cab.” Merik laughed out and Kyohei swore he could almost see the German wink over the phone.

“‘Woo me with your sexy car?’ You mean the one with the Coke stain on the front seat?” Kyohei repeated and snickered.

“I’m having that cleaned out tomorrow before I see you!” Merik exclaimed almost immediately.

Yusuke sensed he was going to be sick. He felt as if Hisato and Yû were flirting in front of him, only ten times worse. He didn’t want to listen to this anymore; he wouldn’t listen to this anymore. Yusuke rose from his seat, grabbed his coat, and briskly stormed past Kyohei without looking at him. He slung the wooden door open as quickly as possible and slammed it shut on his way out.

He may have turned Kyohei away, but no matter what he tried to tell himself, he knew he wasn’t ready to let him go.

“What was that?!” Merik questioned with an alarmed tone as he heard the slam over the phone.

Kyohei bit his lip and reached out, sliding his fingers slowly down the surface of the closed door. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “… it was nothing.”

~*~*~*~