Ooohhh…! I'm so sorry for updating so late! I've been busy registering my courses for this semester and the schedule is hectic! I hope you guys don't really mind for the delay. Heck, I always do this I think? So please, proceed! Plus, I'm having a fever while writing the last part of this chapter so please ignore the mistakes you're about to see…I think they are lots! Thank you!
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I would cry out your name for the world to know
That you are the only one in my heart
But I have become the invisible
So just stop screaming for my name
Because only I can be the one to know
Tsuzuki sighed heavily as he stepped inside his apartment. His house wasn't in a big mess since he didn't have lots of stuff in the house. He had a long couch, a television set, a tea table in the living room. The kitchen was obviously had been renovated since it looked larger than its usual size. It should be because Tsuzuki after all was a chocolate baker. There was a round-shaped two-seated dining table near the veranda. It appeared that he enjoyed looking out while having his meals.
Upon one wall were a huge bookshelf and a small study table. The only things that were lying around were his last night's apron, few clothes and few papers. He was thankful that he didn't have lots of furniture or it would be a pain in the ass to organize them all.
He gathered his clothes and put them into a basket which he planned to wash later. After that, he picked up the papers and kept them inside the drawer. All of a sudden, his cell phone rang. He searched for it inside his coat and found it.
"Moshi moshi?" he started.
"Tsuzuki, it's me. How are you?" it was Tatsumi. "Oh, Tatsumi! I'm good. What's up?" Tsuzuki leaped to the couch, hearing his best friend's voice. "Look, I know this is so sudden. I have an important meeting to attend tomorrow morning in London…"
"EEEHHH!? You're leaving?" Tsuzuki stood up straight.
He swore he could hear Tatsumi smiling at the phone right now. "Yes. And my flight will take off in about an hour. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. Just promise me one thing," Tatsumi said. Tsuzuki pouted. "Last time when you went to Amsterdam you left me too…and that was for two weeks! How long will you be gone this time?"
"Tsuzuki…promise me!"
"Hait! Hait! What is it?"
"I'll be gone for maybe a month or maybe much longer. I need you to promise me that you SHALL BEHAVE! I've called Okita to check up on you later. He'll be in charge in your finance during my absence. I'll call you when everything's done. Promise me that, Tsuzuki," pressed Tatsumi. And Tsuzuki couldn't say no. "Okay, Tatsumi. I'll try. But why must you send Okita? Fleurir's much sweeter…"
"Don't question my decision, Tsuzuki. I have to go now. See you," Tatsumi said and ended the phone call.
Tsuzuki glared at his phone and gritted his teeth. "He didn't even ask me what I would want from London…" he mumbled and went to his bathroom. After an hour long bath, he returned to his coat and took out the picture from it. He was wearing only PJ pants and turned on the radio. There was a song from 30 Seconds to Mars called 'Beautiful Lie' on air. He stared at the photo again and smiled foolishly. It was a photo of a boy, approximately around 5-7 years old with huge innocent eyes and brownish-yellow hair.
All of a sudden, his door bell rang. He quickly hid the photo behind the cushions and hurried to the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Hisoka."
The voice made Tsuzuki's heart skipped a beat. He opened the door and surprised to see Hisoka standing in front of him in his black pajamas holding an apple pie. (A/N: Wait! Did I say apple pie? Obviously I had nothing else on my mind.)
Tsuzuki scanned the unidentified pie in Hisoka's hands. "It's apple pie. I made it for you," the teen replied, as if knowing what was on his mind. The brunette's face enlightened and offered the blonde to come in. Hisoka stepped in and looked at the host.
"You should wear a shirt or something," he started. Tsuzuki looked down at himself and forgotten that he was only wearing a pants. "Gomen," he said and rushed towards his room before coming back wearing a red T-shirt. "Here," Tsuzuki took the pie from the Hisoka's slim hands and placed it on the dining table. "Please, sit down."
Tsuzuki looked at it and smiled. "It's very nice of you to make something like this. I love apple pie. It's my favourite," he admitted and went into the kitchen to grab a cutting knife. Hisoka lifted his face. "Favourite? I thought you like chocolates?" he asked. The brunette chuckled. "That's my passion and obsession. But this is my favourite," he answered, as he cut through the pie skillfully. After giving Hisoka his part of pie, he sat down and immediately loved the taste of it.
"By the way, why would you want to make something for me?" Tsuzuki asked as he sipped his green tea. Hisoka drank his tea and placed it back down. "Well, I got to eat some free chocolates of yours which were splendid so I thought I ought to make you something in return too. You know? Give and take?" he replied, leaning on his elbow. His eyes were skimming through the apartment. Tsuzuki smiled when he said that. "Thank you very much. Nobody ever make me something like this. I'm never a good cook myself so…this is quite special for me," he admitted.
Hisoka glanced at him. "Not a good cook? But you make chocolates…"
"I bake chocolates, not cooking. To be honest, the sounds you hear at night were my doing of becoming a better cook. But I failed almost all the time. The only thing I can cook is rice, scrambled eggs and heating the kettle," he continued. A small smirk appeared from Hisoka's face. "Hey! Don't laugh at me! Nobody knows how to cook at their first try!" Tsuzuki defended himself when he saw the boy cracked. "First? How many nights have you been trying and you call that 'first'?"
Hisoka covered his mouth before he burst out laughing. After Tsuzuki finished throwing his tantrum, he said to him. "Look, I can cook for you," he said.
Tsuzuki's eyes flashed in delight. "Really? You really mean that?" he stood up. "Yeah…with one condition!" Hisoka lifted up a finger. "Whatever!"
"You must allow me to work part time in your shop!"
Tsuzuki froze in his attempt to hug Hisoka. "Oh, what the hell. Yeah! Of course! You can even start tomorrow!" he exclaimed and hugged Hisoka. "Get away from me!" Hisoka made an uppercut hit and made Tsuzuki flew.
"Oh…" a voice startled them. The both of them turned to the voice and surprised to see two figures standing in the hallway. Okita cocked a brow. "Sensei?" Hisoka exclaimed. "Oh, Okita. Come in…and Fleurir!" Tsuzuki uttered and leaped towards the lady named Fleurir whose flaxen hair shone brilliantly and green eyes that reflected like a mirror. Tsuzuki took her hand and kissed it. Then, he moved to kiss her cheek. "Nice to meet you again, Fleurir," he said.
Almost immediately Okita pulled her to his side. "Wuoh…still is being an overprotective paranoid, eh?" Tsuzuki glared him. "She's mine," Okita glared. Fleurir freed herself from her husband's embrace and chuckled. "I wanted to come but Okita won't let me. So I sulked and he agreed," she smiled. Then, she noticed someone behind Tsuzuki. "Oh, hello. Who might you be?" she asked as she stepped closer. Hisoka took a step back, feeling alarmed as usual.
"He's Hisoka, my neighbour. Meet my friends, Okita, which I guess you've already known and Fleurir, his wife," Tsuzuki introduced them. "Um, Okita-sensei I didn't know you knew Tsuzuki…san," Hisoka asked his teacher. "Yeah…I ask myself that question many times before…"
Tsuzuki glared at him. "Oh, how wonderful your place is, Tsuzuki. It's so plain messy!" Fleurir stated as she looked around. The brunette smiled bitterly. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or a critic," he mumbled. "Ah! Okita! Where are you going?"
Okita answered without looking back. "Checking your house. Just like Tatsumi asked me to do." Hisoka watched all this in puzzlement. "Checking Tsuzuki? What for?"
"His unofficial financial keeper is going abroad for work for a month. You see, Tsuzuki couldn't handle money. As soon as he gets some, he'll spend it right away. So, he needs a financial keeper to keep track of his money and make sure he won't be spending it wastefully. So, since the keeper is gone for a while, he entrusts with this job which I reluctantly accept. Hey, I have a wife okay?" Okita explained as he roamed through almost all the cabinets and drawers. "Is this what you call as checking? You're basically violating my privacy! Fleurir…NOT YOU TOO!?" Tsuzuki ran his fingers through his messy hair.
Fleurir smiled as she looked through his collections of CDs and DVDs. "Hihihi…I just want to know what kind of movies and music you like, Tsuzuki," she replied innocently. Hisoka put his finger under his chin and thought. "But Tsuzuki only owns a chocolate shop. I don't think he'd get a lot of profit in a year for running a business like that," he stated. Okita and Fleurir paused in their tracks. "Well, I guess that's all we've managed to cover. We'll come some other time, Tsuzuki. Good night, Kurosaki-kun," the red head said and left with his wife waving at them.
Hisoka stared at them and after they had gone. He turned to Tsuzuki. "Did I say something wrong?" Tsuzuki sighed as he sank back to his chair. He stared at the apple pie in front of him and smiled. "Nothing. You just helped me get rid of them," he said and took a big bunch of it into his mouth. "Oh, isn't it time for kids to go to bed at this hour?" he said between his chews as he pointed at the clock. Hisoka glared at him before looking at the clock. It was almost 10.
The blond sighed. "I usually go to sleep at 12 but since you're eager to get rid of me too, I guess I'll be going now," he said and stood up. Tsuzuki quickly stood up too. "No, I don't mean that…"
Hisoka raised a hand dismissively. "I know. I feel that you wanted to be left alone for a while…isn't that what you want?" he said, looking straight at him. The brunette's jaw hung opened, unable to make a sound. "Anyway, just finish the pie. Good night," Hisoka continued and went to the door.
"Hisoka," Tsuzuki had called him. He turned his head slightly. "Thanks for the pie and don't be late tomorrow. Good night," Tsuzuki said, smiling sweetly as before. "Hm," answered the blonde bluntly.
Tsuzuki closed the door as soon as he heard Hisoka locked his apartment door. He went back to the couch and snatched the photo from under the cushions. He stared at it again and noticed something he had missed before. The boy's eyes were green in the picture. The brunette's eyes widened in shock when he saw the familiarity in the boy's face.
He turned to the door abruptly and stared at it in disbelief. "No way…"
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"KYAH! HISOKA-CHAN IS WORKING HERE TODAY!" Minami leaped in joy towards Hisoka who was just arriving at the shop. Hisoka shrieked in surprise and almost fell down if it wasn't for Saeko who helped him. "It's enough, Minami-chan. Let Hisoka-kun go!" she exclaimed as she snatched Hisoka from Saeko's grip.
Hisoka managed a glare at Saeko before shoved by Minami to the dressing room. It was a small room with one window and four metal lockers. "This is your locker. Tsuzuki-san managed to get one early this morning," she said sweetly. The blonde nodded his head before accepting his key. "Okay, I'll leave you now to get dressed. I'm sorry to say we all share the dressing room," she said with a guilty look on her face. Hisoka shook his head. "It's okay. I don't really care too much about it," he answered. She shrugged and left.
He placed the key in and turned it. When he opened his locker, he was surprised to find there was a box in it. It was rectangular and it was red with a golden ribbon. He could already guess who put it there. "Tsuzuki…" he mumbled as he took a look at it. But he smiled when the chocolaty scent crawled out. "Well, this means I get to keep it."
Tsuzuki was walking back and forth in front of the counter, almost blocking the customers who were paying. He was obviously anxious about Hisoka working there. Minami was in charge of the counter and asked Saeko to get rid of Tsuzuki before the customers got angry or left without paying. Minami slammed Tsuzuki to his usual couch and glared at him. "Tsuzuki-san, I know you own this place but you have no rights to keep the customers from paying, which would bring the meaning of having no money to pay us. So, I supposed that you should enjoy your drink here before any harm could be done!" she said with hands on her hips. The brunette stared at her with a hanging mouth.
Minami smiled. "Good. Be nice, Tsuzuki-san," she said and left. When she turned around, Hisoka was just coming out from the back. "What?" he asked when he saw her staring. Then, she made a sly smile. "Sou ka…?" she said before leaving the scene.
"HISOKA!"
Hisoka knew what was going to happen. Fortunately, he managed to take cover or to be exact, countered attack before anything could be done. Tsuzuki was about to jumped onto him but Hisoka move a bit to the side and made him fell flat to the floor. "You should've known better than to harass your co-workers, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said as he stared down at him. Tsuzuki's eyes watered and immediately changed into the inu mode.
Minami and Saeko made a surprise gasp. "Tsuzuki-san hasn't been in the inu mode for some time now…" Saeko said. Minami could only agree. "What…are you…doing?" Hisoka stared at him in puzzlement. Tsuzuki stared at him with those big, watery, sad violet eyes as if telling Hisoka he needed a hug.
Hisoka made a disgusted frown. "Please, Tsuzuki. I came here to work," he stated, just in case Tsuzuki forgot that. Tsuzuki sulked and went back to his seat. Minami and Saeko smiled at each other and went back to their work.
The blonde sighed and began to pick up empty plates and cups and put them into a tray. "Hisoka," he heard Tsuzuki called him. He turned to him with a baffled look. "What?"
"That apron suits you. You look like a wife," Tsuzuki stated innocently and as blunt as he could get. Minami and Saeko tried to hide their giggles because half of it was true. An irritated vein popped out from Hisoka's head and almost burst out.
"TSUZUKI NO BAKA!"
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And yeah, Fleurir's a lady here. (Newbies, please refer to my 'Dual Crisis' fic) Sorry if someone is sensitive about this but I think it'd be better if I change his/her gender for this story. I mean, there's no shounen ai here, right? But who knows?
