"I like this one." Fuji said. He held a small bottle, a very small bottle, and Tezuka peered in at it. Vanilla Fragrance it said, and Tezuka frowned.
"There are other vanilla scents," he began, but he didn't get to finish.
Fuji interrupted him, "Yes, but they don't smell as good."
Tezuka sighed. "Here, let me..."
Fuji pulled the bottle away. "I'll hold it." He said, smiling. Tezuka had a sinking feeling that this was going to hit their monthly expenses very hard, but he let Fuji open the bottle and hold it under his nose.
It smelled like... vanilla. Like every other vanilla scented lotion ever made. Tezuka took another deep sniff and let it out slowly. "It's—"
"I think we should get it." Fuji said.
"Couldn't we get something..." Tezuka fumbled for words. "More economic? With a larger contain—"
Fuji shook his head. "I want this one."
Really, Fuji was like an obstinate child sometimes. "Why?" Tezuka asked.
Fuji shrugged. "I don't know. I just really like it."
Tezuka doubted that. Fuji was random and uncontrollable, but only to other people. When it concerned himself, Fuji had more self control than anyone else Tezuka had ever met and a method that, while Tezuka didn't understand it, was clear and almost never deviated from by Fuji. So the fact that Fuji wouldn't tell him coupled with the fact that Fuji obviously wanted it told Tezuka only one, single fact. There was no way in hell that he would convince Fuji to buy some other lotion. So he gave in. "How much does it cost?" He asked resignedly.
Fuji looked at him, surprised. "I don't know." He said honestly. "I hadn't looked."
Tezuka gave him a look and then looked at the lotion, and back at Fuji. Fuji smiled, almost sheepishly if Fuji were ever sheepish, and turned the bottle upside down to look at the price. "A hundred yen." He read aloud.
Tezuka blinked. He hadn't expected that. The lotion was... cheap. Not extremely cheap, but definitely not the luxury that he had expected it to be. "Let me buy it for you." Tezuka offered, because he doubted Fuji remembered to bring money and because he knew they would get out of there quicker if he just paid for it.
Fuji tossed the bottle up and down, thinking about it, then nodded. "I'll pay you back." He promised.
Tezuka didn't know what to make of that; Fuji had never made that particular promise before. He had, naturally, taken Tezuka's money before, but never had he promised to pay back. They went to the checkout counter and the clerk tried to convince them to buy something else as well; maybe a nice rose would be good for Fuji's girlfriend?
Tezuka stared at him, not used to being called that and Fuji stared alternately at the storekeeper and at Tezuka before bursting out laughing. Tezuka stopped staring at the storekeeper and started staring at Fuji, who managed through a string of somewhat coherent noise and vague, ambiguous hand motions to tell Tezuka that the storekeeper had thought that Fuji was buying the lotion as a present for a girlfriend and Tezuka no doubt was only there to help him pick it out and nothing else.
Tezuka didn't know what to feel at that point, so he just turned pointedly away from Fuji and told the clerk that no, they wouldn't need anything else, and handed him the money. The clerk, who was staring at Fuji, who was still laughing, took it and handed the lotion back to Tezuka in a little brown bag. Tezuka gave the bag to Fuji and pulled him out of the store. He had planned to pull Fuji all the way back to their apartment where they would no doubt start making out or more, depending on the mood once they got back, but Fuji pulled back about halfway through.
"There's somewhere I need to go." He explained.
Tezuka nodded and let Fuji pull him, neither of them feeling any pressing need to let go until Fuji stopped again, and Tezuka found his hand suddenly bereft of its companion.
"Sorry." Fuji said. "I'll be right back."
He clutched the bag tightly and ran into the temple that Tezuka hadn't really paid any attention to, leaving Tezuka outside. Tezuka didn't move to follow him, thinking that if Fuji wanted him to follow he would have said so. He waited outside, watching children run past him and listening to the sounds of their horseplay. It wasn't until the first streetlights turned on that he began to grow worried; when the light came only from the streetlights he finally followed Fuji into the temple.
It was oddly deserted and more than a little eerie. Tezuka quickened his pace, though he would never admit to it. The main shrines and alters were empty and Tezuka almost panicked, until he saw Fuji, crouched in a small hallway. He gave a sigh of relief and walked to him, opening his mouth to comment on the time and shutting it almost immediately.
Fuji was staring off into space, not even aware of Tezuka's approaching footsteps. The bottle of lotion was open and clutched in his hands. He held it close to his face, right in front of his nose. Tezuka knelt down gently beside him and looked at the wall. It took a while for his eyes to adjust, but he finally realized that it wasn't just a wall. There were little cabinets built into it and there was a little card on each one. Just barely, and only through a lot of squinting, could Tezuka make out "Fuji Sui" on the one where Fuji's eyes seemed most focused.
Fuji didn't say anything and Tezuka finally gave in and shook his shoulder a little. "Fuji?" He asked gently.
Fuji jumped and stared at Tezuka. "T-Tezuka?"
"Are you all right?" Tezuka asked.
"Mm..." Fuji blinked several times. "It's dark..."
"Yeah." Tezuka said, hoping that no accusation showed in his voice. "You spaced out."
"Oh." Fuji lowered the lotion. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Tezuka said.
Fuji didn't say anything, didn't make any move to get up and go, so Tezuka didn't either. They sat there, in a silence that was, if not comfortable, then at least companionable. Fuji was the one to break it, motioning at the little cabinet he was staring at. "My grandmother's ashes."
Tezuka nodded, as if he understood. He thought that he did.
"She used to wear this all the time." Fuji said. The lotion, Tezuka thought. He meant the lotion.
"Ah." Tezuka understood.
"Let's go home, okay 'Mitsu?" Fuji said.
Fuji never called him that, Tezuka thought. It wasn't... bad. He smiled, though Fuji might not have been able to see it, and stood up. "All right. Let's go."