The Fun They Had
Chapter 1
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"…and we went to his place."
"You spent a night with him?" Iruka asked, inwardly shuddering.
There was a sob, then a slight nod, and Iruka closed his eyes. He didn't want to see the face that was dear to him for such a long time, because in spite of all obvious efforts to look guilty and sad it wore an expression as happy as a clam at high tide. Iruka very well realized – that mysterious guy from yesterday must be awesome.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," the voice of his (now former, he decided) lover was whiny. Iruka hated that whining, "You'll forgive me, right?"
"Never," exhaled Iruka, "I won't be able to forgive you that betrayal."
"Please, please… you see I'm honest! I don't want him anymore; I want to be only with you! Forgive me, please," a warm soft hand caressed Iruka's forearm and slid up to his shoulder.
Right at this moment Iruka's mobile phone started to ring. Iruka opened his eyes. The hand receded.
"What?!" he barked into the phone angrily.
"Hi there," said an unknown lazy voice on the other side, "Meet me today, can you?"
Iruka raised his head and looked into the emotionless eyes of the person five minutes ago he thought that he loved.
"Want to see me?" Iruka asked, sure he definitely never met anyone with such lazy voice. The plain face in front of him gained an interested expression. Iruka realized he gets a sadistic pleasure from teasing and continued, "Yes, I'm free tonight, where do we meet?"
"The east side of the green park at 11 p.m.," an answer came.
"For not to be disturbed?" laughed Iruka. He didn't care what exactly he said or how frivolous he looked; he just wanted that pretty face forever frozen with furrowing brows and a pained pout, "I'll be there."
"Who was it?" A question was full of jealousy, so Iruka started to inwardly dance. No, he wasn't cruel or revengeful; still the jealousy in this context was enjoyable. As a fact, during all their time together, there were no hints of that emotion.
"None of your business from now on," he spitted and turned away to leave, "I wish you to be happy."
"Iruka, please," the familiar voice whined behind him pleadingly, "Iruka, don't leave me! I love you!"
But Iruka was as cool as ice; he left and didn't even squint back.
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And now he felt lost. He didn't want to go home, where he could be easily found. He didn't want to forgive, because he knew he could never forget the fact of betrayal. Walking absent-mindedly, he noticed he was in the park only when the chill of the tree's shade crawled under his shirt.
The wind whispered in the leaves hypnotically as Iruka made his first step into the welcoming darkness. Not caring about anything, sensing only dumbness inside of his chest, he looked at his watch and went in direction of the east side.
It was so nice to simply walk, listening to the soft rustling around. Iruka lowered his gaze to the dusty road of the park and foot-slogged, watching his shoes tread upon the fallen twigs and listening to their quiet cracking. Abruptly, he thought about the person who called him. They had probably got the wrong number. Still, Iruka was glad they did. Now he wanted his former lover to suffer the same pain of being betrayed he suffered when he heard about the previous night. Wait, was he ever in love? He was used to the relationship and felt comfortable, but was it the love indeed? A real love should be something uncontrollable, slaphappy and crazy; definitely not like a habit or a slough.
Iruka chuckled sarcastically. What a childish thought! But when he raised his head, he saw a clearing in front of him and a silver-haired man with a mask on his face in the middle of it. Iruka froze. Could he be a maniac? Could he be dangerous?
"Is it you I called for?" the masked man frowned, "You look different."
"Maybe it's because we've never met before?" asked Iruka accurately, "You mulled the phone number."
The man shrugged.
"Of course, I'd remember such a… well," he snickered, shamelessly tracing Iruka's body with his gaze, "I think you'll do."
"You think I'll do what?" Iruka wondered, taking a little step back. He didn't like the hint of power and lust, which without any doubt radiated from the strange man.
"I think you'll do for this eve," the silver-haired man stated and reached out both beckoning hands, "Come here."
"What?" Iruka squeaked, moving back slowly, "Who do you think I am?"
"I think we are here to have some fun," the man declared, fatally approaching Iruka.
"Not me!" yelled Iruka loudly as if the tone and the noisiness of his voice could make the statement true.
"And what did you think when you headed to meet an unknown person in the deserted part of the park an hour before the midnight?" wondered the man.
"I had my reasons," Iruka's whisper cut out when he suddenly banged with his back against the huge tree trunk.
"Tell me about it," the man murmured, stopping right in front of Iruka, too close for his comfort but still not touching him, "I'd like to know your reasons before we start our fun."
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They sat on the bench and Iruka couldn't understand why he was telling his love-story to a complete stranger. It was not that they were in a bar both drinking and complaining about their life. The place and the time were too unfitting. But he just started to talk and the man was there for him, listening with attention, watching Iruka's heated face, asking questions from time to time.
"We were together for several years; I even thought it'll be forever that way," Iruka sighed, "It felt comfortable and we understood each other perfectly and I can't remember if we had a real fight. But right before you called I was told that I'm a cuckold. Nice, isn't it?"
That question made the man laugh. It didn't sound scornful though.
"Yes, you can congratulate me!" Iruka spitted bitterly.
"Congratulations!" said the man politely, "And that lover of yours… it was…"
"…was also my best friend. We did so many things together! And we always helped each other. It'll be a pain to adapt to living alone again," Iruka shook his head and stared at his dusted shoes.
"Wait, I can't see the whole picture," muttered the silver-haired man, "What is your lover's gender?"
Iruka raised his head and squinted at his opponent.
"Former lover!" he stated angrily and frowned, "And I don't get what you mean".
"Okay, I'll formulate it simpler – is your ex a boy or a girl?"
"Oh! Of course it's a girl!" with a wave of his hand, Iruka mentioned it as if it went without saying. When he continued the talking he was very emotional and agitated, "I'm confused; I feel nothing. Why? Could it be love? I miss us being close, but I'm not sure it's that bad. It's a kind of feeling… like melancholia, do you get the clue?"
The man nodded.
"Your lover surely had reasons too, don't blame…" said he.
"My former lover. And the point is that I don't care if she had!" interrupted Iruka, "I don't care if she has them now or not, and if she'll ever have some in the future or not at all! What kind of love is that?" Iruka shuddered. Suddenly a warm hand resided on his shoulders, supporting him softly.
"You are a bit confused; you have to sleep over with the idea of you two apart."
"What about you? How do you know your lover is the right person for you?" Iruka asked interestedly, looking for an answer to his doubts.
"I don't have a constant lover," declared the man.
"Why don't you?"
"I guess it's because I didn't meet the right person yet, so it's no fun to be that intimate or fall in love with everyone I come across," the man smiled sheepishly at Iruka. He was very close again, embracing Iruka's shoulders and stroking his hair soothingly.
"How do you recognize the right person when you meet them?" asked Iruka. He was calm and warm and almost melting under the light touches, "I want to know it to be sure I won't fail the next time I get a chance."
The man laughed, squeezing Iruka's shoulder in affection.
"There are no rules for such a thing!" he pointed, "I guess you must be a teacher or a specialist of that sort."
Iruka frowned, looking at the man suspiciously.
"Yes, I'm a teacher. Can you read minds?"
The man laughed again. Iruka always thought such mocking laugh should make the people angry. Still the laugh of this man was so soft it made Iruka smile too.
"Listen, teacher. For example two individuals meet and decide they like each other. You can never say if they are meant to be together. There are two ways to recognize your true soul mate – either by dint of your heart's hints (though only very rare people are able to listen to it properly), or through your mind's hard work, when you make a logical decision to try one another on practice."
Iruka's eyes went wide and he whistled.
"What kind of theory is that? The life is too short and the health is too weak to try everybody!"
"Yes, I think so too. But you have to admit that any random pair of human beings can be meant for each other. It's not possible to recognize just so simply, but somehow it works!"
"I guess you are right," Iruka nodded, deep in thoughts.
"Take anyone, even you and me," the man continued his speculations, "Maybe you and I are meant to be together, who knows?"
"What?" Iruka started, "Oh, of course not!" he laughed, "That's not possible!"
"Why do you think so?" the man squinted at Iruka suspiciously.
"Because you are a man, silly!" Iruka laughed even harder, raising his head and fixing his eyes on the man's face, "You are a man and I am a man…"
"So what?" Now there was an obvious teasing in the voice and Iruka stunned when their eyes met. The man's eyes were mismatched and one of them was bloody red, but Iruka was shocked by expression he saw there, in the depth it was able to sink in.
"I'm an idiot. Sorry if I offended you," Iruka muttered, blushing, "I'm not homophobic, I also have friends who…"
"Forget it! I only want you to agree that your heart decides who you should be with and that everything is possible," murmured the man, "Am I right?"
"You are right" Iruka repeated mechanically, unable to take his eyes off the man's eyes.
"We should go," pointed the man, "It's almost morning. What about we'll have fun the next time we meet? You are too distracted for any activities, I see."
Iruka blinked, breaking the unsteady connection between them. He wondered what was meant by the word 'fun', but was afraid to ask. The sensations of that fear and itching wonder fought inside of him, still he decided to be good and to wait with asking the weird questions.
"Of course," Iruka gulped doing his best to gather himself and sound rational, "the next time."
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Was that man a hypnotist, with that freaking red eye of his? Iruka shook his head again. This morning he slept too little and too unsteady to be able to think properly. Very luckily, it happened to be a weekend and he didn't have to go to work. He wasn't sure he could teach in a state of constant inner tremble. Maybe the reason was the quarrel, maybe it was the tiredness, maybe the communication with a man he met yesterday in the park, maybe it was a talk with his ex he foretasted or all in one loaded with definitely approaching headache.
Café, his former lover chose for their neutral meeting, was rather pompous. Iruka approached the round woody table she sat at and sank down onto the broad chair with a sigh.
"You look like hell!" his ex declared before anything else, "Why didn't you bother yourself to arrange your hair properly?"
"Don't moralize me," Iruka muttered, shoving the naughty strands of loose hair from his face, "What do you want to discuss? Let's finish it quick."
"I…" She blushed, turning her head to the side to look at someone near the café's counter, "I just…"
Iruka followed her gaze and started. There, with his back to them, sat the man from yesterday, his extraordinary silver hair was perfectly recognizable. Iruka felt the sudden warmth inside of his chest and frowned. Why did he…?
"It's him!" whispered a voice into Iruka's ear, "He sat there when I came in. I think he recognized me, but he didn't make an effort to come for a talk. I was so worried he would! But he didn't," The girl pouted in a manner Iruka hated most, "Still it's definitely him!"
"Huh?"
"I say it's the man I spent the night with!" pointed the girl angrily, "Are you listening to me? You are strange today!"
"What you not say," Iruka murmured, staring at the man's back intensely. Yes, he was all tickling from inside. Was it anger now? Definitely not! What was it then? Some sort of excitement?
"There is no reason for jealousy. I don't care about him, you hear me?" she said, taking Iruka's hand and squeezing it in her palms, "I want to forget about what happened and be with you again. And everything will be just like before, alright?"
Maybe the silver-haired man felt he was being watched, maybe he heard the girl's last words said very loud, maybe he just chose that moment to turn around, but when he did, he accurately met Iruka's gaze. Iruka shuddered, when noticed that the man sees him with his ex and smirked when the man's eyes widened in realization.
"Jealousy? But I spent a night with him too," Iruka said matter-of-factly, turning his head to meet his former lover's eyes, "So we are almost even. I say 'almost', because he got to fuck only my brain," 'Poor me' added Iruka to himself, wincing at the suddenly increased headache.
His ex froze near him, definitely shocked.
"And… how… was it?"
"Do I look satisfied?" Iruka wondered sarcastically.
"No!"
"It's because I'm not done with him," The lazy voice thundered. Two of them raised their heads and saw that the silver-haired man approached their table and took a seat at Iruka's side. Iruka gave him a short reproving glance and turned his face back to his former lover.
"Why am I angry at you and can't be angry at him?"
"Iruka, what?" the girl muttered, knowing Iruka's temper and already imagining what kind of boring sermon he can start. But he surprised her greatly.
"Why do I wonder if he'll be kind to sit and talk to me and don't mind you to leave immediately?" The voice was quiet and seemed to be calm, but Iruka was definitely in rage, "You say you desired him and you got him, so now you want me to respect your impulsive decisions and forgive you. What if I choose to make an impulsive decision too? What if I'll say 'go away!' to you and take him instead? Will you respect me? Will you forgive me? Or will you fight for my rotten soul to save me from starting a relationship with a man?"
The girl flushed and gritted her teeth.
"You are insane!" she cried, jumping up from her seat, "Don't you dare blame me for all deadly sins! Yes, have him if you want! Yes, I respect your choice. And I, in my turn, wish you to be happy!"
She left, furiously stamping the clingy tile of the café's floor with her heels all the way to the entrance. After the door shut behind her back the silver-haired man turned his face to Iruka.
"How did you guess I plan to have a relationship with you?"
Iruka shrugged.
"Do you? It was meant idiomatically for a better effect."
The man laughed.
"I think I already love you!" His sheepish smile made Iruka a little bit upset, because now it was impossible to look into those bottomless mismatched eyes, "What's your name, anyway? I already ruined your private life, but I'm still unaware how to address you."
"My name?" Iruka frowned, "I'm Iruka. And I'm afraid my private life was a fake."
"Nice to meet you, Iruka," said the man with a short shake of his silver mane, "I'm Kakashi. Ready to make another attempt?"
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Iruka half-lay on the windowsill, his upper body resting on the elbows. His two best friends sat near him and they watched the front road of the house together. Since Iruka lived at the 7-th floor, they had a swell advantage and could see every single person approaching at long range.
"You say you invited a man who was a reason of your break to our stag party?" Kotetsu wondered, sipping the ale from the bottle.
"Yes I did," Iruka nodded. Kakashi was late and he was worried. What if he won't come? "Really, I don't know why you call it 'stag party'. Paying respect to your presence, guys, I'd rather call it 'hen-party'!"
"If you call it 'hen-party', then you are our mother-hen!" smirked Izumo.
"Okay, let's call it 'carousel' or 'razzle-dazzle'" Iruka rolled his eyes. He was never good in arguing with Izumo and he knew no one who really was. Somehow, Izumo happened to be always incomprehensible in his assertions.
"Deal," Kotetsu raised his hands to stop their altercation; they already proved many times they can go on with it for hours and hours, "Listen, Iruka, you must be insane inviting the rival. I never liked your ex, but it seems that break was too hard for you and weakened your brain!"
Iruka squinted at him angrily, but said nothing. Instead of arguing he returned his gaze to the road and continued to stare at it nervously. They sat in silence until finally someone appeared on the horizon.
"There he is!" Iruka yelled and pointed at the little figure moving in direction of his house.
"Where?" Kotetsu tilted his head to see the man and smirked, "I guess he's very cute if that bitch of yours fetched him."
"Oh, stop it! You know very well she was never choosy!" Izumo pointed, and grinned.
"Are you trying to offend me?" Iruka narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sure Izu is only jealous!" Kotetsu laughed and reached for Izumo's head to ruffle his hair, "Because he knows very well he can't compete with someone silver-haired and masked."
"Wait, silver-haired and masked you say?" Izumo turned pale and looked down at the approaching figure, "It's him!"
"Gosh, not again! I heard that phrase in the very same voice not so long ago!" Iruka furrowed his brows and turned his face to Izumo, "What is it?"
"I…" Izumo muttered, blush spreading on his cheeks, "I've met him in the bar last week."
"And…?"
"And we had a very nice talk until…" Izumo shut his eyes firmly and bit his lower lip, anticipating a punishment.
"You flirted with him! You did it again! Right when I was on the journey for my work!" Kotetsu cried, caught Izumo's collar and tugged him down from the windowsill.
"Wait! I had nothing with him! We just talked and then I received a message…" Izumo tried to fight, but an effort was weak.
"What message?" Iruka asked, stopping both men from beating each other by wedging between them bravely.
Izumo sighed and took his mobile phone from the pocket. He found the message he talked about and gave the phone to Iruka to read it aloud.
"'If you aren't home in 10 minutes, I consider it cheating and your ass is left alone forever!'" read Iruka, "The time here says it's one in the morning."
"Oh, that was mine!" Kotetsu smirked, "It works perfectly when you mention an ass. At least with Izu it surely does!"
"Yes," Izumo muttered, gripping his phone back and hiding it, "And so I had to run away. But when he asked me for a number to call later I just couldn't refuse him!"
"And you gave him your number?" Kotetsu narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"You know very well I don't remember my number, 'tetsu! So I gave him Iruka's number!" Izumo grinned, obviously proud of his quick wittedness.
"So that's why he called me the day before yesterday! You are so nice, Izumo!" drawled Iruka.
"I believe, Izu wanted to ask you later for a favor to give that silver-haired man his real number," Kotetsu hissed, staring daggers at Izumo, "And I believe, quit you, Izu," he added threateningly.
"Wait, wait," Iruka made an effort to pacify his friends, "There must be an adequate explanation, I'm sure!"
Suddenly they heard a slight knock and the door burst open. The silvered-haired man stepped into the room and observed their tensed figures, chuckling. Indeed, frightened Iruka between two unstable men, trying either to catch or to avoid one another was a rather amusing show.
"Yo! Another ex of yours, Iruka?" Kakashi nodded at Izumo and arched his brow suspiciously, "Maa, I'm really ruining your private life!"
"You've got it all wrong! He's my ex!" hissed Kotetsu.
"'tetsu, please, don't start it! I did nothing!" Izumo whined, dodging a punch. Iruka winced, because he continued to get all these punches.
"Nothing?" cried Kotetsu, "Nothing as far as I know! But I know you too well, so it's over!"
"No! Ask Iruka! He knows for sure!" Izumo pushed Iruka forward and hid behind his back, "He fixed a chastity belt on me every night I went to the bar in your absence to make me resist the temptations!"
Iruka never heard such explicit lie before. Of course, leave it to Izumo and you'll get all possible explanations in the world, but not at list a little bit veracious one! And now it was Iruka's job to think of the construction of that 'chastity belt'. He shuddered at the thought he can be asked to submit the thing.
Kakashi turned his face to stunned Iruka.
"Really? You did it for your friend?" he shook his head, enjoying the tanned man's blush.
Izumo and Kotetsu continued the fight, circling around Iruka's figure, but Iruka wasn't bothered anymore. He noticed that Kakashi watched him and lost himself in those mismatched eyes.
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