Disclaimer: I do not own Junjou Romantica or any of its characters.
In Search of a Master - Junjou Style
Chapter One: A Master's Plans
Removing his glasses after hours of wear, Usami Akihiko rubbed weary eyes.
Should I read through it again?
The author's mouth ticked slightly sideways- the Usami rendition of a grimace. After pausing a few moments more, he extended a long finger and clicked "send." Once his email confirmed that his new book was off to his editor, Aikawa, he powered his laptop down and shut the lid with a snap.
Stiff arms pushed him back from his desk and then reached upwards in a spine-popping stretch.
Akihiko sighed.
That should make her happy. Two days to spare, no less.
Before his compulsive perfectionism led him to open his computer and re-read his manuscript again, he spun around in his desk chair and stood. His low back complained once he was vertical and Akihiko replied with a soft groan and a quick rub of his hips with a broad hand.
"I need to get a massage," he murmured to no one, moving stiffly out of his study and onto the upper landing of his spacious apartment. "More than that though, I need a smoke!" Finding his breast pocket empty, he clambered wearily down the stairs into the open front room and retrieved a half-empty pack from amidst the clutter covering the top of the coffee table.
Scanning the rest of the apartment's main space he noticed, for the first time in weeks, perhaps, the extensive disarray of his home - and its emptiness. Turning his eyes away from the mess, he lit up. Akihiko departed his sitting area, trailing a long plume of smoke behind him as he headed into the kitchen.
The light came on automatically when he entered, only to reveal further chaos caused by his extended creative activity. The Kitchen's counters were covered with takeout boxes, the sink stacked high with dishes.
You know if you had a new "tenant," it wouldn't be like this.
Ignoring his internal commentator and the culinary debris, Akihiko stepped over to the far counter and gathered the teapot: the time for endless black coffee had come to a temporary close. Five minutes later the kettle was screaming as he reached up into the cupboard for one of his last remaining clean beakers.
He'd only half-filled the mug when it suddenly shattered, leaving his counter with a new layer of mess in shards and half-steeped tea.
Damn.
As fatigued as he was, the notion of cleaning this overwhelmed him. After several pensive moments Akihiko pulled out his phone with a frown and pushed a button. He was surprised when the call was actually answered by the man himself and not a machine.
"Hello, Usami-sensei." The voice was cheerful but wary. Akihiko wasn't surprised, he would have been concerned actually if he'd found it otherwise.
"Good evening, Kusama-san. Thank you for taking my call; I know how busy you are."
There was a pause as the young doctor, Kusama Nowaki, struggled to find an appropriate response, but in the end he returned to his pleasant bedside manner. Even so, while his tone was polite, he quickly explained that he did have to report in surgery in fifteen minutes, so he hoped Usami wouldn't take offense if he forwent the usual pleasantries.
Akihiko couldn't have known that on the other end of the phone Nowaki's chest was tight with tension, already having a very good idea as to the nature of the call. Anticipating the reason, Nowaki prayed he was mistaken, especially after events that had recently transpired between him and Hiro-san.
"Um… For you to ring it must be important. What may I do for you, Sensei?"
Clearing his throat, Akihiko suddenly felt uncomfortable, and was struck by the thought that in his current state of exhaustion he'd made a foolish and hasty decision. But rather than divert, he stuck to his original intent. He and Kusama had an arrangement after all, and despite how much time had elapsed, it would be good for the young man to be reminded he was still accountable.
Making himself sound far more certain than he felt, Akihiko pressed on. "Yes, well you know; it has probably been longer than is prudent, but..." He hesitated only a moment. "I have need of Hiroki."
Though he couldn't see Kusama's expression, the young doctor's discomfort was palpable through the phone. When Akihiko felt that pause had drawn out too long, he slipped into a cooler tone.
"Is there a problem?"
Rather than answer immediately Nowaki exhaled a deep breath. When at last he responded, his sober statement posed the question he was fearful of asking outright.
"Since you didn't contact Hiro-san yourself, Sensei, I gather you're not calling me for permission to allow him to edit for you."
"No." Akihiko allowed the single sharp word to sink in. "You know very well, why I contact you for matters pertaining to Hiroki. We had an agreement, did we not?"
"Ah, yes. Your call just took me off guard." Nowaki recovered quickly and his tone was now correctly agreeable if even still apprehensive. "When would you need Hiro-san?"
Akihiko couldn't help but frown at the question, as well as Kusama's insistence on referring to Hiroki by the surgeon's personal nickname for him: both articulated a possessiveness that irked him.
"Does it matter?"
"Of course not. You're in your rights, Sensei; it's your prerogative to have him. It's just that Hiro-san's semester hasn't ended yet, and it would be a hardship for him to be missing classes."
At Kusama's response, Akihiko's expression shifted and a small smile curled his lips: it was deferential, but also protective. This pleased him and assured him once again that he made the right choice for his best friend.
"I'd like him to come by tomorrow morning at nine. He's not teaching Saturday classes this term, is he?"
There was hesitance again on Kusama's end that quickly revived Akihiko's irritation.
"Well?"
The heaviness in Nowaki's usually light voice belied his conflict. "I'm sorry, Usami-sensei. Certainly there's no problem. I am very grateful that you brought Hiro-san into my life… It's just… We… Well, we both have tomorrow off and this is the first time in months our schedules have aligned."
"Months?"
Akihiko's jaw dropped open and he almost lost the now burnt out cigarette he'd been talking around.
"How in the hell are you managing him then? I told you from the beginning that Hiroki requires a certain type of handling to in order to thrive. Consistency is key!"
"Oh, I can assure you, Sensei, I am very aware of how to handle Hiro-san."
For the first time since he picked up the phone, Nowaki's voice had become stern and he responded to Akihiko as an equal, master to master. "I had just planned a full day Saturday to attend to him."
At this Akihiko's brow rose, but he didn't growl back. He was glad that Kusama understood Hiroki's needs. He could imagine too, how disappointed Hiroki would be to lose out on the opportunity for such lavish attention and he really didn't want to deny his oldest friend.
Still…
Then a bolt of inspiration hit. While he truly was in no way obligated to consider either of the other men's desires, Akihiko cared for Hiroki and liked Kusama well enough to be generous.
"Kusama-san… I really only have need of Hiroki for a few hours. And this could be played into a beneficial opportunity for you."
"Oh?"
In that one questioning syllable, there was no doubt that Akihiko had Nowaki's full attention. "I promise that when you come to retrieve him, he'll be totally primed for whatever you have planned."
Once again, the alpha instincts that made the young surgeon the perfect match for Hiroki boiled up.
"Hiro-san is already always 'primed' for me, Usami-sensei. I am taking care of him now!"
"Of course, Kusama-san. I didn't mean to imply…" Akihiko let his words trail off rather than offer an outright apology to the perceived slight. He had been Hiroki's first after all and would not defer to his second.
"I'm merely suggesting that keeping him slightly off balance could be to your advantage."
Akihiko flicked his burnt out fag into the full kitchen sink, pulled a new one from a crumpled pack on the wet counter, and set it between his lips while he waited for Kusama to mull the possibilities over.
Not that he has much choice.
"I'm setting some conditions," Nowaki finally replied at last. He knew this was risky, but as much as it pained him to admit it, he had already kept Hiro-san far more off balance than he ever should have. It was a terrible mistake that he'd made and now he was trying to correct this without harming his beloved professor further.
It was hard for Akihiko not to snort in amusement at what he perceived was Kusama's jealously. He'd no intention of fully exercising his claim as first master. Still, he couldn't allow Hiroki's second master to assume such liberties, especially after the compromise he'd already offered.
"I don't think you're in a place to be setting anything, Kusama."
Nowaki's breath caught and his tone shifted immediately, not only realizing he'd overstepped his bounds, but also the fact that Usami could easily choose to do many things to his Hiro-san in response to any perceived slight to re-assert his position. Mindful of this Nowaki's tone became deferential and he used an honorific that salted his tongue.
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, Usami-sama. You're right, of course, I chose my words poorly there. But please, if you'd be willing… Rather than 'conditions,' perhaps you'd allow me to make a request?"
The younger man's persistence made Akihiko curious.
"Go on."
After drawing a deep breath, Nowaki continued.
"Whatever needs you have of Hiro-san; I would be very grateful if you didn't do anything physically penetrative. I prefer to keep those parts of him for myself at present. And given your past history with him, I fear such an interaction after all this time…"
Akihiko lit up his fresh fag and puffed out a series of rolling rings.
It pricked him that Kusama thought he might do something that would compromise Hiroki. The man was quite dear to him after all, even though if not in the same way that the doctor seemed to be so obviously attached. And all that Akihiko really wanted at present was to have his apartment set right and perhaps relieve a bit of the tension he'd built up over these last sequestered days.
Still he understood Kusama's concerns. Kamijou Hiroki had once loved him completely and it had taken time and a lot of hard work on the doctor's part to break Hiroki down and restore him to a place where he could give and receive a different love.
Akihiko's chest clenched unexpectedly. Once again he wished that he'd been able to return such feelings for his best friend and truly the most extraordinary slave he'd ever trained.
"Anything else?"
"Please be careful with him, Usami-sensei. Hiro-san is very important to me."
The conviction in Kusama's words touched Akihiko in a deep place. He knew all too well what it was like to regard someone with such care. Unlike Nowaki, however, who was now Hiroki's heart (though Hiroki still had to be "encouraged" to admit this at times) the person Akihiko cherished would never experience his particular kind of affection.
Pretending he was considering these petitions, after a tense moment Akihiko hummed his assent.
Nowaki exhaled the breath he'd been holding and prayed that Usami would keep his word. "Thank you so much, Usami-sensei. I will tell Hiro-san to be there for you at nine."
"I appreciate that, Kusama-san."
After a few more awkward moments, Akihiko signed off. He tucked his phone into his pocket and tossed his second butt into the sink before he headed out of the kitchen.
Hiroki can deal with the mess tomorrow.
The corner of Akihiko's mouth turned up. He could just hear Hiroki's complaints about the state of his flat: no doubt enough to earn the man at least one or two sound spankings. A shiver of anticipatory pleasure thrilled through Akihiko's low belly.
While he had never been able to bring himself to love Hiroki as much as he likely should have, he did love the feel of his friend's bare ass under his hands; the wonderful ways Hiroki lashed out, struggled, and then so beautifully broke.
Of course you'll only have him for a few hours and then you'll be right back to where you are now.
Alone.
The pleasure Akihiko had been feeling fled and the loneliness that had been gnawing at his edges returned.
"Maybe… But I can change that." Akihiko's deep voice echoed in the empty apartment.
Can you?
Dismissing the skeptic in his head, Akihiko picked Suzuki-san up from the couch where the poor stuffed bear had been languishing for days.
"I'll start looking for a new "tenant" tomorrow after Hiroki leaves, but for now I'm going to sleep."
Bedmate gathered; he started up the staircase to his room. As he climbed, Akihiko felt the sudden weight of his memories.
Images filled his mind of the numerous men he'd taken on. They'd offered their bodies, minds, and hearts to him and he trained them to perfection, only to have to let them go in the end. Because lovely as they all were, they were not the one he truly yearned for.
With a sigh Akihiko pushed open the door to his bedroom's dark interior, suddenly desperate for sleep's oblivion.
If you're curious about the title, it comes from a series of writings by John Preston. His works of gay erotica and especially his "Master" pieces were formative for me. Sadly, he was a victim of the AIDS epidemic and is no longer with us.
Also, if you're wondering, this is actually intended to be a Romantica Fic, since I thought the fandom could stand to have at least one Misaki/Akihiko slave story where the master/slave dynamic is consensual. But many of you know my egoist love never leaves me completely and so, of course, they had to pop up.
It will be at least three chapters in before Misaki appears. In the meantime, were dear "X" still reading me, she would no doubt disown me for what's ahead for the proud professor. However, I will endeavor not to abuse Hiroki too much since I fear I have rather thrust him into this situation rather unfortunately. I will also strive not to make this fic "Fifty Shades" of stupid.
How often I will be updating this piece, as with my others, I don't know. I had written this chapter and another over the summer and wanted to put them up, now that I seem to be getting back into my FF writing again. Just know gentle reader,. I shall be darting a bit hummingbird-like from fic to fic for a time. I appreciate your patence with me as I get things wrapped up and hopefully am able to keep from dashing out anything else new to entangle myself in.
Thank you for reading and, of course, I always enjoy hearing your thoughts.