Facade of the Wolf
Kashima Shuuhei came to the base of the stairs and took the door marked ''employees only'' into the public bar that occupied the front of the Blue Boy''s first floor. He quickly took up a stool at the counter and sighed heavily in defeat. He was mentally exhausted and the quiet atmosphere of the bar in the afternoon was an escape from his present situation. There was hardly anyone in the shop, only a few hosts and a page boy could be seen occupying a table toward the front window, obviously relaxing before they started work for the day.
"Kashima-san!" The bartender, Touma-san, welcomed him warmly, coming up to talk and already starting to prepare his usual drink. "What a surprise! It''s been a while. What brings you down here?" He paused for a moment and Shuuhei felt a pair of sharp eyes study him carefully. "You look a little - how should I say this - overwrought."
Kashima smiled halfheartedly. "I''m slightly worried. I had to reschedule another of Owner''s appointments due to Kiichi-sama''s tricks. I suppose the novelty is just wearing thin on me now."
"Is he playing with the Owner''s infamous ''kitten'' again?'' He asked, sliding a tall glass of oolong tea toward Kashima.
"Unfortunately, yes." Shuuhei sighed again and the bartender could tell this was a difficult situation for the younger man. "It seems Owner is unable to resist when the plot involves Naoya-san."
"So, what are you going to do?" Touma asked, leaning over the counter slightly as if to make their discussion more private.
"The only thing I can do, I suppose. Perfect the art of politely rescheduling." Shuuhei laughed lightly, a smile flitting across his lips. "I suppose you''ll be seeing far more of me from now on."
The bartender gave him a secret smile and nodded. "That would be quite pleasing. I''d much prefer you to spend an evening with me than watch you try to tell Owner in the midst of his passion that he has a meeting in fifteen minutes." Touma chuckled, watching Kashima with amusement.
Shuuhei stared at him for a moment before the words sunk in and his cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink. "Touma-san, please don''t say such things so bluntly." He replied quietly, staring him in the eye even though his face wouldn''t stop burning.
"Hai, hai!" The bartender laughed again. "To believe an innocent such as you works in a sinful place like this. What has the world come to?"
"I''m not that innocent." Shuuhei countered, "Plus I''m straight." He laughed, finished of his drink and stood. "I suppose I will see you again soon, Master."
"Take care, Kashima-san, and don''t let Owner wear you down." Touma advised Shuuhei with a gentle smile, which Kashima accepted with a bow before taking his leave.
Touma waited until the door had shut behind the younger man before picking up his dishtowel and continueing to polish watermarks off of the glasses, turning his back to the rest of the bar.
He knew for a fact that the conversation of the hosts in the corner had suddenly turned to a discussion of the positive and attractive points of the man who had just left. Straight or not, there were men in this building who assumed that they could fix that small problem.
Kashima was like a rabbit to a wolf.
Unfortunately for them, he was always one step ahead of these types of hopefuls. Kashima Shuuhei was not one to be quickly seduced. You would have to have patience to slowly win over his trust and friendship. Only then could you move further, perhaps cunningly entice him to surrender to you, to give over his heart and body.
Touma smiled mischievously to himself, holding the glass up to stare through it's clear perfection.
In this hunt, he was the wolf and Kashima Shuuhei was his unwary prey.
To Be Continued...
A/N: In case your wondering who Touma is, he is the bartender who makes his first appearance in volume 7. I found myself somehow drawn to his character and therefore decided to make the only remaining straight guy in this series uke to the lovely Touma. This was going to be a oneshot but the few people who replied to this on my LJ made think it had potential and so it will be continued. Thank you for reading and please review!
