Rescuing Rikuou

This was a first for Kazahaya. After all the times he thought he was on a job by himself just to end up relying on Rikuou to come and save him, they were finally going to be even. Today was Kazahaya's day. Today, that smug bastard would have to switch from gloating to groveling.

True, Rikuou never gloated in the most obvious fashion. He gave out insults easily enough but there were never any direct, Ha ha, I told you so's. Still, Kazahaya knew. When his roommate would have that disgusting little smirk on his face and turn away without saying a word or when he would spout off something that might have sounded like advice had it come from anyone else's lips, it was even worse than blatant gloating. He may not know a lot, but Kazahaya was smart enough to know when Rikuou was making fun of him – even when he didn't say it directly.

Poor little Kazahaya can't swim. Would have drowned if I hadn't been there.

Kazahaya doesn't know enough to stay in bed when he's sick. He'd fall asleep right here without my generosity.

Kazahaya would never have gotten under that fence in his schoolgirl outfit conscious. Oh yeah, he'd found out about that. That asshole he called a roommate probably took a peak up that horrible skirt while he was at it, the pervert.

But that was all in the past. He'd be able to leave it there after this job. Kakei had told him to go find Rikuou and that meant Kazahaya was needed to play the part of rescuer this time. After everything they had been through, Kazahaya would finally be able to prove that they really are equals.

The job did not go as expected. When he caught up with Rikuou in the middle of some obscure street block, the jerk just told him to go back to the store. As though he'd come for the fun of it! He never had liked fighting with Rikuou so after a few minutes of doing just that, he did something very unlike him – he forgot about the money Kakei had promised, forgot about broken contracts and cancellation fees, and walked away.

He managed to get to the end of the block before a nondescript old car pulled up beside him. A tall man stepped out. He was slightly heavy set with dark skin and a clean-shaven head. He wore a navy suit and a narrow black tie. He would have fit in perfectly on one of the detective shows on TV. The man in the suit looked straight at him, nodded slightly in lieu of a verbal greeting, then reached beneath his jacket and casually pulled out a handgun. Maybe he really was a cop.

The man didn't point the gun at Kazahaya, but in the direction he had been coming from. "Where is he?"

Kazahaya was stunned enough that it didn't sink in – who the obvious "he" was.

"Nevermind. With him, I don't even need to aim." His arm moved around as though looking for a target but the man's eyes didn't follow the movements. He just kept looking at Kazahaya and, with an obscenely friendly expression given the circumstances, fired off a single shot. Despite the obvious lack of visual aiming, Kazahaya had no doubt the man had hit his intended target.

At the sound of the shot, Kazahaya crouched to the ground, even knowing the bullet wasn't aimed for him. After a few seconds though, everything became clear in his mind. Kakei had sent him out to save Rikuou and here some random guy was firing a gun at him. How could he have allowed something like this to happen? All those times Rikuou had rescued him and here he couldn't even so much as shout a warning.

He stood and ran as fast as his legs could manage back the way he had come.

Rikuou was lying on the ground when Kazahaya reached him but there was not a drop of blood to be seen. Rikuou groaned and began to sit up even as Kazahaya knelt down to check him over. "I hate that," he complained, clutched his head with one hand.

The man with the gun walked up to the pair of them and let out a short chuckle before becoming serious. "It's not safe to talk out here." He looked around, then eyeing a small restaurant, continued, "Let's have lunch." He turned his look to Kazahaya for a few seconds before addressing Rikuou. "I'll even let your boy here come."

Kazahaya knew he should be used to weird things happening during Kakei's errands by now but for some reason, he was still always surprised.

"He was just leaving." He sounded pissed, but that was just more of the same. Why was Rikuou always stubborn like this? It was just another thing he would probably never get used to.

The compromise was not much to Kazahaya's liking. Rikuou and the man – whoever the hell he was – sat in a booth near the door and Kazahaya sat at a small table back in an opposing corner well out of earshot. He made sure to face Rikuou to keep an eye on him. Rikuou returned the favor every now and then. He would be talking with the gunman who had somehow shot him – and at the same time, not shot him – completely ignoring Kazahaya, then the jerk would turn his head and scowl at him for a moment.

"Excuse me sir. Is that man over there bothering you?" Kazahaya hadn't thought he would be needing money so he had barely a hundred yen in his pocket. It would be enough to pay for his drink but that was it. The waitress still gave him plenty of attention. Perhaps because the diner wasn't very busy. Or maybe the people in the booth by the door had scared her away from that section of the restaurant.

Kazahaya perked up. He was always looking for those kind souls who could see Rikuou in the same light he did. "You saw those nasty looks he's been giving me?"

The woman nodded faintly. "Would you like the manager to have a talk with him?"

"It's not like that. I know him."

"Oh. You've had problems with him before. In that case, maybe we should call the police for you."

"Police?" And Kazahaya had to laugh. The idea of calling the police on Rikuou was so ridiculous! The guy might give him mean looks, might torment his every waking moment, but he would never hurt him. "No, really. It's okay. I can handle him."

Suddenly, Rikuou was by his side and the waitress was giving him a worried look. The man with the gun was gone. "Come on, Kazahaya." His voice was no longer angry. He was resigned now. Maybe even a little depressed. "Let's just go home."

"Alright." Kazahaya stood and put his jacket back on while his coworker took a look over the table, pulled out enough money to pay for the single drink, and shoved it at the waitress. Before Kazahaya could protest, Rikuou was pulling on his sleeve, urging him along.

The waitress suddenly blushed and bowed to both of the boys in turn. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize this was just a lover's spat! Please forgive me." Without waiting for a reply, she scurried away in embarrassment.

Kazahaya tried to call out a rebuttal but Rikuou cut him off. "Sounds like the two of you were having an interesting conversation… 'Lover.'"

"Gahhh! Rikuou, this is why I hate you! I should have let them call the police. I could have laughed my ass off as they dragged you away to jail." Despite his words, he followed the source of his discontent out the door and back home.

They were nearly back to the drugstore before Rikuou decided to speak. "Those weren't bullets in that gun."

"Don't talk to me like that. I know what a gun sounds like. I heard the thing fire."

"You heard it?"

"Of course, didn't you?"

"Kazahaya, there wasn't anything to hear." Kazahaya groaned slightly. "Really. You should have known something was up when Kakei sent you out here. And the fact that you didn't figure it out when I didn't have any holes in my body, well…." He let that linger in the air for a minute before moving on to a new subject. "What did Kakei want you to do anyway?"

"Kakei? I already told you. Maybe next time you're too busy yelling at me to listen to what I'm saying, you'll remember this." Kazahaya paused for a moment, waited for an indication that a lesson had been learned. When he received none, he continued his explanation with a huff. "I was just supposed to come out and find you. I couldn't let you go anywhere without me."

Rikuou ignored the reprimand and gave Kazahaya a look – a look that said he suddenly understood what it was all about but wasn't going to share his newfound information. As a peace offering, he decided to calm his companion's nerves a bit. "It was a spell."

"Huh?"

"That guy. He doesn't trust anyone. Especially not people…like us. So it was a spell. It feels weird, but it's wearing off already."

"Ha ha! That guy was afraid of you. The waitress was, too!"

"And that makes you happy? You're such a moron."

Kazahaya went straight up to the apartment when he got home. Kakei had given him the rest of the day off and he was afraid that if he showed back up in the store, the man might put him back to work. Rikuou on the other hand, headed to the drugstore office to speak with his boss.

"Looks like he didn't have the information you were looking for. Saiga will be disappointed his contact wasn't able to help you." Kakei seemed to be ignoring the fact that Saiga was asleep on the couch less than a meter away.

"Why'd you send Kazahaya? Something could have happened to him."

"You know I wouldn't send him anywhere if I thought it might be too dangerous. But if that man had the information you were looking for, you might have done something rash. Rushed forward without thought. And if he didn't… Kudou-kun has a way of cheering up the people around him."

"That's only because he's an idiot."

"Regardless."

It was mere seconds after Rikuou left the room that a deep voice broke the new silence. "Are you going to pay him?" From behind, Saiga snaked an arm down Kakei's chest.

"He did his job, I don't think I have a choice. Maybe I'll dock the check for his initial decision to leave Rikuou."

"You don't think that maybe you're being a little hard on him?"

"You know how he wants to live on his own. If he has enough money, that is exactly what he will do. If I thought he would stay if someone asked him, I might consider letting him keep more of his earnings. But until then…"

"Until then, you'll lead him around with a stick and honey?"

"Some people don't mind the stick." Kakei tilted his head a bit to the side so that Saiga could help himself to the exposed skin.

Between nips and kisses, Saiga found the words to respond through smiling lips. "Only if you've got the right kind of honey."

Author's Notes: A bit of a random story there maybe, but I have an excuse. The first part of this fic was actually a dream I had – starting with the boys meeting up on the street and ending with Mr. Informant offering to include Kazahaya in the conversation. I was intrigued enough that I had to come up with the rest of the story the old fashion way when I woke up.

Oh, and a note for those of you that don't read xxxHolic. The bit up near the beginning about the schoolgirl uniform and the fence is a reference to the button side job where Kazahaya walks behind the pole and ends up in a different time. In xxxHolic, the main character walks behind the very same pole into a world where he meets a being who sells dreams. The interesting thing though is that we find out that in order to get back to the "real world", you don't walk back behind the same pole, you have to squeeze underneath a wooden fence. And by the way, the gap is teeny tiny. Now imagine Rikuou in his school uniform trying to get not only himself, but also an unconscious Kazahaya (who is of course, still in that girl's uniform), under the fence. Lol!