Summary: Jiki tries to seduce Tsukumo using an herbal concoction. Contains erotic tension, but no sex scenes. Rated M just to be safe.

Words: 1286

Rating: R, but only mildly so

Writer's Note: This story was inspired by Jiki's flirting with Tsukumo in chapter 15, as well as the dialog in chapter 23. Timing is sometime during Jiki's stay on Circus Ship Two.

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Jiki was prepared to handle just about anything the crew on Circus Ship Two threw his way: Yogi's emotional outbursts, Nai's bizarre questions, Gareki's cold curiosity, Hirato's sneaky smile and even Eva's outright rudeness toward him. But there was one thing that chinked his armor ever so slightly, and that was his feelings for Tsukumo.

They'd performed together in many Circus dramas for the public, and he had to admit: Tsukumo was a far better actress than he was. She was no-nonsense about their roles and expected him to take them as seriously as she did. But Jiki preferred the honest truth to the pretense of the stage, and the honest truth was that he was more fond of Tsukumo than he rightly should be.

So one day, he was reading up on medicinal plants and found one that was said to incite lust in whomever consumed it. He read the preparation with interest…grind the berries, boil them down, strain the mush, ferment it for a few days, then distill the essence into a concentrate that could be easily slipped into someone's drink.

Jiki had a plan.

In Vantnam, he located the berries he needed and brought them back to the ship. That night in his makeshift lab, he got to work. While he was grinding the berries, Nai wandered into the room.

"Can I ask you something?" asked the white-haired boy.

"You certainly may," said Jiki with grin.

Nai sat on a stool and gripped the table with his hands.

"Wanting to 'be together' with someone…" Nai began, "…it can be scary sometimes."

Jiki pushed up his glasses and continued grinding the berries in a large mortar and pestle.

"How so?"

"You might have to deal with scary things in order to be together." Nai spun back and forth on the chair. "And then just because you're together, doesn't mean you'll be happy. You might suffer a lot."

"That's true, I suppose." Jiki put down the pestle and rubbed his wrist, which was getting sore. "So what's your question?"

"So…how can you be with someone and have it not hurt?"

"Ah…I think I see your dilemma." Jiki smiled. "You can't. True love hurts. That's the essence of it."

"Oh. What are you making?" the boy asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

Jiki grinned.

"You might say it's a love potion."

()

After several days of fermentation, Jiki readied the concoction and slipped some into a vial. He pocketed the vial and headed off to dinner with the rest of the crew. It was the usual affair…Eva treating him like a hired hand, Yogi's moods bouncing between ecstatic and traumatized, Nai looking wide-eyed at everything. Gareki was serious and unsmiling, Hirato was absent and Tsukumo was…beautiful…absolutely beautiful, Jiki thought, imagining what might possibly transpire between the two of them once she sipped his 'love potion.'

"May I procure a drink for you?" he asked her, grinning.

"Yes, thank you," she said, putting her fork down and staring at the man a little more warily than usual.

While he was off at the punch bowl, he slipped the vial out of his pocket, poured the contents of it into her glass, and then filled it the rest of the way with punch.

"Jiki!" cried Yogi. "Some of us are going to be playing board games later in my room…would you like to join us?"

"Why would I do that?" It was the bespectacled man's turn to feel wary.

Yogi's face turned sad.

"Well, we could get to know each other better…"

"I'll consider your offer," Jiki replied, glancing over at Tsukumo, "but at the moment, I'm expecting to be busy this evening." He started to walk back to the table, and Yogi called after him.

"Oh? Busy with what?" the blond man pestered. "Busy with what, Jiki?"

But Jiki ignored him and sauntered back to the table, as casually as he could manage considering how excited he was to see the effects of his potion on the girl he adored.

"There you go," he said, placing the cup in front of her.

Throughout the rest of the dinner, Jiki kept an eye on the drink, and the young woman's consumption of it. Near the end of the meal she excused herself, the glass mostly empty. Jiki watched her leave, then out of the corner of his eye, noticed Eva finishing Tsukumo's glass of punch. Never mind Eva, he thought. He stood up, tossed his napkin on the table and followed Tsukumo out.

He found her in her quarters.

"Jiki…" Tsukumo seemed surprised when she opened the door and saw him there.

"Tsukumo…" He smiled as he pushed his way inside her room. "I saw you leave and grew concerned about your well-being. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, I suppose," she said, her voice quavering a bit.

Jiki's gaze moved from her lips, to her slender neck, and down to her bosom, which seemed in his eyes to swell with every breath he took. Or was it her breathing he was most conscious of? Indeed, her breathing seemed more obvious than usual – quick and shallow.

She crossed the room to her bed and sat upon it, her thighs pressed together. Jiki tried to sit beside her on the bed, but she scolded him mildly.

"I did not invite you to sit on my bed," she said. "As a guest, you should sit on the chair."

"Whatever you wish, Tsukumo," Jiki said, grinning as he sauntered over to the desk chair and sat down on it, then spun around to face her. "Is there anything I can…help you with, this evening?"

Tsukumo wasn't stupid. She was familiar with the feelings in her body, knew what they meant, and what would help alleviate them. But she also knew that Jiki was not going to play any role in calming her arousal. And she was serious about that.

"No…" She looked at him cautiously. "I feel a bit agitated, but it's nothing I can't handle on my own." Her voice was resolute.

"Sometimes it's more fun with a partner, you know," Jiki adjusted his glasses and gazed at her lovely lips, imagining what they would feel like around his…

"What are you talking about?" she said, fanning herself with a notebook.

"Your state of…agitation, of course. I could help…calm you." His gaze settled directly on her crotch.

She squeezed her knees together more tightly and frowned a bit.

"I'm not interested in you in that way. I'm sorry to be so blunt about it, but I simply don't fancy you."

"Hmmph." Jiki curled his hand into a loose fist and pressed it against his lips. "That's disappointing. But I guess, not entirely surprising." He stood up to leave, then gave her a sad puppy look. "I don't know why but I thought you…liked me."

"I like you, but I don't love you," Tsukumo stated flatly. "And I don't get intimate with people I don't love."

Jiki took off his glasses and looked her in the eye.

"You are far wiser than your youth implies…it makes me admire you even more." He forced a smile and opened the door. "Have a pleasant evening!"

Jiki stepped out into the hallway, just as Eva came rushing up to Tsukumo's door.

"Tsukumo!" she said, smiling mischievously. "Just the girl I wanted to see. I do hope you have time for me tonight…" She pushed her way into the room and shut the door.

Jiki walked slowly back to his room chastising himself along the way.

That potion only invokes desire…like the zukkyu seeds. Such false love would not truly satisfy me either. But loving someone who doesn't love you back…I must admit, it hurts.

END