Disclaimer: I don't own this.

AN: I've had this story working in my head for quite some time but I've never put it to writing. I don't plan to update before I finish "The Pygmalion Effect," so please be patient, read and review, and as always, enjoy! For a full summary of this story, see my profile.

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"Ready, Set, Go!"

by flying metal child

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Chapter 1

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Everyone knows the old adage "money is the root of all evil" and its sister phrase "money can't buy happiness."

Anyone stupid enough to believe those words definitely would not belong in Kakei's office at Green Drugstore, for the occupants of the room, Kudo Kazahaya and Himura Rikuo, were in shock at the astronomical amount of money written on a tiny piece of paper sitting on Kakei's desk.

The number was a lure, an incentive, to get them to do one of Kakei's crazy side jobs and it was working pretty damn well.

"Wh-what...oh wow." Kazahaya was knocked senseless by the number. He imagined he could live very well with his part. Rikuo thought the same. Then the catch would be...

"So what kind of seedy job offers this kind of pay?"

Kakei barely cracked a smile at Rikuo's question. "Oh, it's not seedy at all, although it will require you both to be at school again, this time at a public high school." Kazahaya groaned and thought of his last encounter at Suiryo Academy. All boys and no fun. He had learned a lot from the people he met, but the most pressing memory was wearing too many dresses. Alarms went off in his head.

"I won't have to wear a dress will I?" Kakei laughed and Rikuo rolled his eyes.

"Not that I can see." Rikuo crossed his arms and waited for Kakei to finish his explanation. "You see, I've never had you two do a job that has lasted more than a few weeks, but in this case the object we need to retrieve cannot be stolen. It has to be earned in the school's end of the year track meet. School starts in a few weeks so you see the dilemma of time, Rikuo."

Rikuo sighed. He knew there was always a big catch. "So you're saying we have to start school and stay in school for a whole year to earn some...what are we earning again?"

"The trophy!" Kakei beamed out his answer like it was the most obvious answer in the universe.

"Figures it's something stupid like a trophy."

"Ne, Kakei-san," Kazahaya cut in abruptly, suddenly interested in the job. "Who is the client? This is a lot of money! Why do we need a trophy? How do we earn it?" Rikuo snickered at the barrage of questions that poured from Kazahaya's mouth. The boy shot him an evil glare before Kakei started talking again.

"You know I can't name the client, and the job doesn't require any knowledge of the trophy's destination. As to your last question, unfortunately, the burden of getting the prize will fall squarely on you Kudo-kun. We hope to enter you in the track team."

"Wha--I can't run!" At that, Rikuo scoffed.

"Oh please, you run faster than a damn cat. A spirit cat! I played soccer in high school and I can't even run that fast." Rikuo smirked at Kazahaya's annoyed expression. "Sorry Kakei, I'm not taking this job. I barely finished school after--you know--and I don't plan to go back again." Kakei leaned back in his office chair and regarded Rikuo coolly. He had expected an answer like this. Rikuo had had academic problems after Tsukiko disappeared. Who wouldn't fail in their studies a little after they came home to find a blood splattered room and the only family you had left, your sister, missing? Rikuo wanted to take back what he said out of an irrational fear that Kazahaya would ask what the "you know" was about, but Kakei slid out of the uncomfortable atmosphere with his silver tongue.

"Come now, Rikuo. I didn't plan for you to be a student. How would you like to teach a class?"

Kazahaya laughed involuntarily. "Sorry, this guy a teacher?" Kazahaya jerked a thumb in Rikuo's direction. "I hope I don't end up in his class."

"But you would, Kudo!" Rikuo smirked. He had to take this job now.

"Alright, I'm in." Kakei turned to Kazahaya, suddenly expectant for an answer. The boy looked absolutely terrified.

"Do I have to decide now? Can't I think about this! I mean, my grades were always awful...my tutors hated to teach me!" Tutors? Rikuo thought. "I don't understand Kakei. I've never done any sports, and besides, won't it be suspicious if I just show up as a third year with no sports experience?"

"I've already worked out the kinks with the proper persons. All the school will know is that you come from a private school and that you are a steady, but not outstanding, runner. We don't want to present you as some kind of track genius that no one has heard of for some odd reason. The same goes for you Rikuo. You will have all the credentials you will need to teach. I assume you know what subject."

Rikuo huffed his indifference. "Figures that would be the one." Kazahaya twitched on the couch next to Rikuo like a cat.

"Hey! What one, what one? What are you so good at that you can teach high school kids?"

Rikuo grinned.

This was going to be good.

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Kazahaya was a nervous wreck two days before school started.

Maybe nervous wreck was an understatement. He was completely mortified.

Then again, the prospect of earning his pay pushed him forward reluctantly. The sheer number never left his mind and he was suddenly fearful of his greed, yet it kept him awake at night. The possibilities of it all. He had accepted the job for two reasons. One, the usual, he needed money. And two, no one was that stupid to turn down such an amount.

2.5 million Yen. (Roughly 21,000 US dollars)

TWO MILLION!

And all he had to do was run around in circles...and win a big race...and all the other races leading up to the big race to qualify...while keeping up his grades so he could race...oh and working part-time at the drugstore while balancing homework and after school practice.

Heh.

And being in Rikuo's mystery class.

For a year?

Kazahaya groaned. "Tell me what you're teaching so I can at least be prepared?" Kazahaya looked up from taking inventory at Rikuo, who was obviously not going to answer the question for the millionth time.

"No way."

"Please, Rikuo, you know I'm not good at school stuff." Kazahaya pulled out his trump card, a thing he did unconsciously, but which always seemed to set Rikuo off. Those big, dark green-brown eyes widened like a sad kitten begging for milk. So, so pretty...

"You know," Rikuo started seriously, "if you get any prettier, the girls and boys at school will start fighting over you. As a teacher I can't condone fighting." Rikuo smirked when Kazahaya put down his clipboard and pen and stomped off with a "do it yourself."

Rikuo allowed his eyes to stick to Kazahaya's slim body before it disappeared behind the aisles. He didn't mind doing inventory alone, not tonight at least. His mind was scattered with thoughts and alone he could sort through them. Going back to high school would be like going back in time to a place where memories were made and broken by teenagers who had no idea what the world really was or could be. He thought of Kazahaya, unschooled and naive, but sweet in his innocence. All the bad things he thought about him, how annoying and loud, were supplanted by all the good things Rikuo thought about Kazahaya.

Like how pretty he was, how good natured and sharp like a cat. If he wanted, Kazahaya could slip into your mind like a lover and take all of your soul without even knowing what he was doing. Rikuo found that to be the case. The damn boy was so naive about his beauty. Rikuo entertained a sexual notion of Kazahaya, for he figured if he ever had to be involved with a boy romantically, he would pick Kazahaya over a thousand others. In high school he had dated girls, even slept with a few to prove to no one in particular but himself that he was a man and that he could bed girls simply because he was horny. They were probably horny too. In school he had wondered what it would be like to kiss a boy, but then the idea slipped away because all the boys he liked were either too straight to experiment or were involved in relationships. He wasn't about to get involved in love triangles.

So he used to be a little bisexual in school until Kazahaya came along to set "gay" all his "straightness."

All the flirting he threw at Kazahaya was thrown by the wayside.

But he felt something might change when he was no longer Rikuo.

In a few days, Kazahaya would be calling him something much different.

Himura-sensei.

It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

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tbc.