Disclaimer: No, I don't own the characters, but the OC are all mine!

OK. Part Two, and the final part of the story. Review if you like it. Please. If anything, this is where the climax takes place and the story's title really counts.

May 27.

Umeda woke up quickly. He jerked his head up. For once, he didn't care if he woke Akiha up. He had to! Afterall, today was the day he was going to say:

"Akihaaaa...you're not here."

Instead, there was a note on his boyfriend's bedside table that read:

Hokuto,

Sorry to leave so early. I got a very important call. A famous model is in need of a last-minute photographer. This shot could be very important to my career. We'll go somewhere nice to celebrate.

With Love,

Akiha XOXOXO

Umeda shuddered. "XOXO?" and people call me queer?"

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Sumire Motusmoto sauntered causally into the studio. Her strawberry-blond hair washed around her neck and sparkled in the light. Her dark blue eyes fell upon a timid looking girl who couldn't be a day over 20.

"You," she said, making her way over. The young girl jumped.

"Oh, you must be Sumire-san! I'm Hinata Ishida. I work for Akiha Hara, the man who will be photographing you today."

"Mm-hmm." she purred. "Do me a favor and put my bag somewhere it won't get dirty. I want to see my makeup artist at once. There are a few guidelines we need to run over."

Hinata nodded. "I'll do that." she turned around, spinning into Ebi. "Eeek! Ebi-chan!"

"Is that Sumire-san?"

"Yes, and she'd like to speak with you." she turned to whisper a warning in her friend's ear. "Watch it. Witch. I'll go warn Akiha-san."

Ebi nodded. Great, another bimbo.

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The shot went surprisingly smoothly. Sumire was needy, but not unbearable. The French photographer she was supposed to have was sick, so she had flown to her home country to meet the up-and-coming Akiha Hara. She was modeling some jewelry in an American magazine, and a good job could change both their careers forever.

"Tilt your head back a little bit...that's it!" Akiha cried, "The look I want! Perfect, Sumire-san!" he snapped a few shots. "Way to go, guys!" he beamed. Everyone in the studio relaxed. Much to their surprise, the shoot had gone without a hitch.

Akiha reached into his pocket. He popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth to calm his nerves, glad it was over.

"Sumire-chan, let's get you back to your room." her manager called.

"Arrigato!"

Everyone in the studio grinned. This had gone perfectly.

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Umeda cautiously unwrapped the paper around the lollipop he held. He had bought a bag after he got off work for Akiha, to congratulate him on the important...photographer thingy. The blond just lived for sweets, and Umeda had made sure to buy a bag of cherry...his favorite. The idiot just lived for sweets. The doctor placed it in his mouth thoughtfully.

Eh.

It wasn't...gross. It was very sweet though, and tasted artificial. It made him salivate, too, which was kind of gross. How could someone enjoy this, let alone live off of this? Akiha was such a freak...

For the first time, Umeda noticed the little girl next to him on the train. She had been watching him intently for a while now.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

Her large black eyes flew from the bag of lollipops on his lap to his cold brown orbs. Without a word, she shook her head and turned back to her mother. Umeda rolled his eyes. Kids...

His stop was next, he was getting off on the street directly across from where Akiha's studio was located. It would be a nice surprise for them to go home together for once. He gathered his bag and supplies for Akiha. As he finally rose, he pretended not to notice as one lollipop fell from the bag and onto the seat. He exited without a word, not bothering to look back and see the little girl who smiled as he left, reaching to take the sweet. Like he even gave a damn about making stupid kids happy, anyway.

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Akiha sleepily dismembered his camera. He folded his tripod and began to polish the lens. It was only 5:45 pm, but it felt much later than that. Oh, how he needed sleep! There was the sound of footsteps behind him and he turned, yawning.

"Oh! Sumire-san." he was surprised to see her still around.

"Please, just call me Sumire. I hate formalities."

"OK! Call me Akiha!" he chirped. She smiled. "So, why are you still here?"

"Well," she responded, "Japan is my home country. I was born in Tokyo."

"Ah." he nodded. "It must be nice to be so close to home. And Osaka certainly isn't Tokyo, but it does have it's charm..." he made his way to the table as he spoke to put away the rest of his camera. She floated to his side, smiling faintly.

"I'll say. Such talented...and attractive people live here."

He grinned at this statement. "Oh, Kentaro? He's great. I've been working with him for a long time. He's got a girlfriend, though. Kirimi, I believe. Then there's Hinata-chan. She's so young. Fresh out of high school and hoping to be a photographer herself one day. Right now she just does our grunt work. Ebi of course used to be my wife. Oh, but why am I telling you all of this?" he blushed, embarrassed that he had gone overboard talking about those he loved.

"Actually, I find it quite interesting. But when I said attractive, I was referring to you."

He let out a tiny gasp of surprise. She took one step forward. He took one step back. There was a wall behind him, keeping him from venturing any further away. "Do you think I'm attractive, Akiha?" she whispered.

"Oh, yes, very!" he chuckled nervously, an embarrassing habit. "But you see--" she looked up at him with her dramatic blue eyes. He blond hair brushed against his chest. The blush across his face deepened. It had been so long since he had felt so...turned on...by a woman. He knew he shouldn't let her reach up and brush his bangs back gently with her French-manicured hands, but it felt nice. No! He took her hand gently in his own.

"Sumire-san. I'm sorry, but I can't see you because--"

"AKIHA!"
They both turned to face Umeda. Sumire frowned confusedly. Akiha's eyes widened with dread.

"Hokuto. Wait. Please, for once in your life, stay and listen to me--"

"Why the hell should I?" he spat. "I see what's going on here! This means a lot to your career, right? You selfish bastard!" he turned and began to stalk out.

"No, Hokuto, please!" Akiha begged. He tried to step forward, but Sumire was right there.

"Who was that?" she asked.

Sighing, he decided to explain to her before facing Umeda. "That was the reason I can't do this. He's...my boyfriend."

For a moment, Sumire just gaped at him. Then, she leapt back as if he had the plague. "What?"

"Actually," spoke a soft voice broke through the air, "he's telling the truth." Ebi stood, leaning against the door frame. She had come running the second she had heard Akiha's name shouted. She had also seen Umeda storm out, looking close to tears and seeing the two together now, she could easily put two and two together. "They've been going out for a while now. He's a doctor. He's very smart, successful, and loving towards Akiha. Looks like you've been outclassed."

Sumire glared for a moment, then stormed out without even turning back to Akiha. He smiled at Ebi. He knew that had been her apology to Umeda.

"I—I've gotta go." he finally said. She nodded as he hurried towards the door. He slipped as he did so. What had he tripped over? Looking down, he saw a bag of lollipops, contents now scattered all over the floor after being dropped. For a moment, Ebi noticed Akiha looked as though he was truly going to cry. Instead, he took off outside.

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It had been impossible to find Umeda last night. He wasn't at home. Or at any nearby bars...where the hell had he gone? Probably found some college kid to play with...Akiha thought. He shook his head. So what? He was entitled! Well, not like he had really seen anything. But now, it was time to get things straight. Akiha took a deep breath and entered Osaka High. Visitor's pass in hand, he made his way through to the health center. Inside, it reeked of nicotine. Someone was in a bad mood.

"Hokuto?" he asked. He was surprised when there was no answer. Peering in, he saw Umeda bent over his desk, asleep. He tip-toed over. Touching his shoulder lightly, he tried again. "Hokuto?"

Umeda stirred, pale brown eyes opening to meet Akiha's textured chestnut orbs. "You." he growled.

"I need to talk to you. Will you listen?"

"No. Go to hell." he hissed, rising and pulling back. "I'm going out for lunch. Don't be here when I get back, got it?"

"NO! First of all, why are you so tired? Hokuto, please tell me. What did you do last night?"

He rolled his eyes. "I rode around the train until like, 2 am. I had to clear my head and drinking didn't seem like a good idea."

"So, you didn't--?!" Akiha was shocked.

"Even I don't rebound so quickly, sicko." fuming, he made his way to the staircase, needing to get away before he really lost his temper.

"OK," Akiha continued. He wasn't done talking yet? Umeda simply snorted and began to make his way down.

"Wait!" the photographer cried out loudly. He tried to grasp Umeda's arm. The redhead turned.

"Wha-AH!" the usually coordinated doctor lost his footing and began to fall backward down the staircase.

Akiha's eyes widened. He lunged forward, grabbing the doctor and wrapping his arms protectively around him. They hit the ground roughly, neither man in much pain. The photographer's arms cushioned the doctor's head. It could have been much uglier if they hadn't.

"Now will you listen to me? Oh, and are you hurt?"

"Fine. And I'm OK. You?"

"Also OK, thank you. It's not what it looked like at all. Sumire-san didn't know I was involved in a relationship. Ebi and I set her straight."

There was a shuddered breath underneath him. "Hokuto?" he pulled away quickly. Umeda's eyes were moist.

"I thought I was disposable." he whispered.

"You?! No, you're golden, I swear!"

"I thought—I thought it was only going to last two months!" this time he sobbed.

"What was?"

"I was wrong!" ignoring the blond's question, he hugged his lover, burying his head in the crook of his neck.

Akiha laughed. "Um, what are you talking about?" he asked.

"I can't tell you now. Later." he promised.

Smiling, Akiha nodded.

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Akiha pulled up in Umeda's driveway. "OK. Now, can you tell me?" he begged.

Umeda glared. "Heeell no! What I have to say is important! I need you to be sitting down."

"I am sitting down."

The doctor spoke through his teeth. "In a nicer setting than I cramped little Volks Wagon Beetle."

"OK, OK, fine. Don't be dissin' the Love Bug."

Umeda rolled his eyes as he climbed out of the 'screaming metal death-trap.' Akiha followed him inside.

"Sit." the megane ordered.

The photographer sat and waited patiently while the doctor paced nervously, shoving his hands in his pockets, and finally sitting beside him.

"Here." he said, gruffly, handing a lollipop to his boyfriend. "Forgot I still had that."

"OOOH! Thank you!"

"Well...Akiha...yesterday was our two-month anniversary."

"Our what?"

"Yesterday was May 27. We've been going out since March 27. That's two months..." he trailed off, flustered. He usually avoided emotional crap like this.

"Oh! Was it? I didn't think you liked emotional crap like that!"

"Well, I never really dated anyone this long," he answered, blushing.

"Oh. Aw, Hokuto..."

"So, it would have been better yesterday. I mean, more official, I mean...look..." he kissed Akiha slowly, but passionately, hoping the photographer would understand what he was conveying in the kiss. When he pulled away for air, he took the blond's hand, kissing his long, slender fingers. Akiha was silent, waiting for him to get the strength to speak.

"You've told me this countless times, so it probably doesn't mean much to you--" he met Akiha's eyes.

"Akiha, I love you."

For a moment, neither man spoke. Finally, Akiha smiled and tears welled in his dark eyes.

"You know I love you too." he cooed, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Can I say it again?" the megane asked, wrapping his arms around the blond's shoulders.

"Yeah, you can."

"I love you, Akiha."

The (perhaps overly-fluffy) End

Well, hoped you liked it. Big thanks to Kit-chan. You don't have a link so I couldn't give you a personal message, so I'll do it here. After like (ha ha) two months of this story being up, you're the first to review. Reviews mean a lot to me and every story I write is very personal. The fact that even one person enjoyed it brightens my day and I hope to see how you liked the conclusion.

To anyone else out there, yeah. Next up is a mature-rated one. Please let me know what you think of my fluff. Because fluff is the bested word in the wurld. Next to review. Now do that.