An exhausted Akira Touya moaned as his cellphone started ringing at midnight on a Friday night. He just wanted to go to sleep. He was already on top of his bed, despite being fully clothed but he could ignore that once he got rid of his belt. But, no, his goddamn cell phone had to ring and he knew who it was.

It wasn't magic, caller id, or even a scheduled arrangement. He had a work phone and a personal phone, and guess which one was ringing. To be accurate it was more like he had a work phone and he had a Shindou phone. Sometime it could be so embarrassing though, especially when Shindou had changed his ringtone from the usual generic to 'Nothin' on You'.

But the real concession to his phone situation had been when the telephone company asked him which five numbers' he would like to be able to call for free. The first had been his parents, the second Ogata, the third Ashiwara, the fourth Shindou's cell and the fifth Shindou's apartment. Even thinking back on it now he cringed, not that he would have changed the numbers, it was saving him a lot of money.

Finally rolling over to pick up the phone, which had almost stopped ringing, Akira answered the phone, " Hello, Shindou."

"Aki-hick-ra , Akiraa …" Hikaru said slurred through the phone. This was unusual, not only was Hikaru calling Akira by his first name which meant he was drunk but it sounded like he was crying. Akira had been privileged to receive a number of drunken calls from Hikaru so he knew from previous calls that this was unusual, though he never had the honor of actually being present when Hikaru was that drunk. It had been something that Akira had hoped to avoid for as long as possible, but it looked like tonight was going to be the end of that.

"What happened, Shin- Hikaru?" Akira asked. It was nobody's business if he flushed at the personal address. That had been another lesson in dealing with a drunken Shindou, he wanted to be called Hikaru when he was drunk. That had been the only other time he had heard a drunken Shindou cry. The memory itself managed to increase the flush in his cheeks. Hikaru had called when Akira had been having coffee with Ashiwara after a late study session. Akira had ended up spending twenty minutes on the phone calming Hikaru down after he had called him Shindou. 'Are we not friends, why don't you call me Hikaru, does that mean you hate me, I couldn't handle it if you hated me.' This speech interrupted by little sobs had been embarrassingly answered by Akira, "You're my best friend. I'll call you Hikaru whenever you want me to. I don't hate you, Hikaru. Now please stop crying, I don't want to make you sad." Ashiwara had kindly enough not said anything, but the twinkle in his eye's had grown to Ogata like proportions.

"Waya … Waya took advantage … hick … of me," Hikaru said despite his sniffling. Akira froze for a very long ten seconds.

"Where are you?" Akira demanded forcefully.

"At my apartment."

"I'll be right there," Akira replied firmly already grabbing his wallet and his coat. He had just enough time to make the last train. Despite his forward motion the shock only started to wear off in the train. Waya had touched Hikaru. Waya had made him cry. Waya was going to die. Akira could barely contain his anger at Hikaru's supposed friend, the few drunken business men on the train edged away from him.

Once he finally arrived at Hikaru's apartment he ran up the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. It was only the third floor, it would have taken too much time. He hadn't even wasted the time to press the call button. Finally at the door of Hikaru's apartment, Akira took a deep breath and tried to calm down, he couldn't be the one panicking.

After ringing the door bell, Akira could hear Hikaru stumbling over to the door, hitting the side table with a muffled 'Shit' and finally, finally unlocking the door. Akira faked calm as he came inside and tossed his jacket on the side table, a distinct change from his other visits; he always hung his jacket up properly to avoid wrinkles. Hikaru was leaning against the wall his clothes crumpled up and his shirt unbuttoned showing the crinkled white undershirt beneath it. His hair was mussed but not too much more than normal and his eyes and cheeks were red from crying. Akira took Hikaru's hand and guiding him to the couch and sat down right next to him.

"What happened, Hikaru?" Akira asked. It was the first time he had called him Hikaru in person rather than over the phone but he didn't notice at all. He was too worried, too upset.

Hikaru looked up and started to focus a little and pulled Akira closer to him, almost like one would a teddy bear for comfort. "Waya… got me drunk, on purpose, I didn't really notice he wasn't drinking much until too late. Isumi-san wasn't with us since he was on a date and I just didn't expect it … it was so out of blue and diadoci … no DI-A-BO-LIC-AL, diabolical. Waya had always bugged me about it from time to time but I wouldn't … so today he tried to force me. He … he…"

Akira was dying from the tension, despite the fact that he was pulled tight against Hikaru's side. Did Waya kiss him? Touch him? Take his clothes off and p-push him down? Akira consciousness waved a flag at the back of his mind, 'Nothing you haven't fantasized about for years.' But come on he was nineteen, not dead.

"Waya got me drunk and interrogated me about Sai," Hikaru finally confessed a little worried that Akira would try and ask him about it as well but Akira knew that he would tell him someday so he didn't think that he would force it.

"Huh?" Akira was completely lost, his thought process left out to hang in mid air and fall a very long way. "So why are you crying?"

Hikaru smiled in a very pained way, starting to cry again, but very quietly this time as the alcohol had started to wear off. "I always get sad when I think about how Sai left me," he stated, his eyes much too old.

Akira on the other hand was still trying to get his head on straight. "So he didn't touch or kiss you?"

"Why would he, he likes Morishita's daughter?" Hikaru asked completely puzzled turning to look into Akira's eyes bringing their faces close together.

That was it, Akira had had it. Enough was enough. He was sitting on a couch with a barely dressed Hikaru who had an arm around him, and they were sitting close enough that they were practically in each other's laps. With a barely murmured, 'Then I'll do it myself' Akira pushed Hikaru into the sofa and kissed him until he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but kiss back. Panting a few minutes later, after discovering via trial and error how to kiss and breathe at the same time and how to French kiss successfully, Akira smiled into the crook of Hikaru's neck. They had ended up stretched out on the sofa with Akira on top, propped up on the sofa's arm.

Hikaru finally getting his thoughts back together asked, "Does this mean that you like me?"

"For a long time now," Akira replied not raising his head.

"And you thought that Waya had tried to …" Hikaru didn't even want to say it.

"You did say he had taken advantage of you," Akira said muffled but with much more confidence.

"I did say that … didn't I. Does this mean you want to go out with me?"

"Very much so."

"OK."

"OK?"

"OK. Yes. I will." And then they were too busy to say anything else.

XXXX

Later when Hikaru told Waya and Isumi that they were going out the next day. Waya's first reaction was, "Did the bastard take advantage of you?" Hikaru laughed so much that he started crying. It was just too much.