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Satisfaction
Chapter 4
By Miki
Monday afternoons were beginning to rank as Yuuta's least favourite day of the week.
Standing in the public library, he stared up at the top shelf at the book he couldn't quite grab.
It had taken him long enough to find the book in the library's cataloguing system and now all he wanted to do was get it and go back to school.
It was after five already and he didn't want to miss the edibles at dinner again… He could swear he could still taste the aftertaste of all those green vegetables from last time.
Besides, if he didn't get back and check in before dinner, he'd get a scolding from the woman at the front desk again, and he really, really didn't want that.
Looking around again, Yuuta was glad the library was pretty deserted, and he stood on the tips of his toes as he reached up for the top shelf again. He had no idea why someone had bothered putting shelves up this high when most of the population couldn't reach, but it was pretty inconvenient.
He felt another shelf under his right hand, and pushed on it a little, trying to gain leverage.
The fingers of his left hand brushed the spine of the book he wanted, and he grimaced and pushed down harder on the shelf with his right hand.
Just a little more, just another centimetre even!
Wincing as he felt the muscles in his side straining, he was about to give up when he saw a hand over his, pulling the book out by its spine and Yuuta let go of the shelf, stumbling back as he regained his footing.
Turning to look at the person who'd taken the book down for him, he blinked in surprise.
Atobe Keigo held the book out to him, one eyebrow raised.
"Is climbing bookshelves a hobby of yours?"
"Better than stalking," Yuuta retorted quickly.
Then he frowned and took the book, flicking the cover open to check it was definitely the right one. "Thanks," he said gruffly, a flip of nervousness in his stomach, cheeks blushing pink with embarrassment.
Atobe gave no signal he'd heard Yuuta's comment and looked at the bookshelf, silent.
"Hey," Yuuta said quietly. "Don't you have a library at Hyoutei?"
Atobe shrugged this time, turning to look at Yuuta. "It's rather inadequate for my needs, being catered to people of lower intelligence and lesser ambition…" He paused and looked at Yuuta. "I don't see any point in wasting my time there."
Yuuta stood still for a moment, processing Atobe's words.
"Whatever," he grumbled, eyes scanning the other titles in this aisle for a moment, and then sneaking a look sideways at Atobe.
The public library was about the last place Yuuta had ever expected to bump into anyone else, let alone Atobe. It was kind of weird, and Yuuta couldn't quite get his head around it.
He felt somehow… as though he was intruding somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. And he still hadn't forgotten Atobe's words from the week before.
"Why are you reading Arthur Miller, by the way?" Atobe enquired, his voice breaking Yuuta's train of thought.
Yuuta shrugged, avoiding looking at Atobe and staring at his shoes instead.
"English class," he said by way of explanation, pulling out a book by Ian McEwan and feigning interest in the cover.
Atobe also pulled out a book, tapping it with his finger. "If you're reading Miller for that, I'd rather recommend Death of a Salesman than The Crucible," he said, a bored know-it-all expression on his face as he gestured to the book in Yuuta's hand.
"Not that any of Miller's work ever interested me," he added when Yuuta didn't reply.
Yuuta tried to keep the confusion from his face as he took the book from Atobe, looking it over and flicking it open.
He'd never actually read much in English before, but it was catching up to him now and his teacher was bugging him to try reading novels in English. She'd said Miller would be easy, but Yuuta was wondering what her idea of 'easy' actually was.
He couldn't understand half the words on the page and the rest didn't make any sense.
"Let me guess," Atobe said suddenly, smirking. "You actually don't have any idea what you're reading."
Yuuta glared, annoyed Atobe could see straight through him. "Of course I do!"
Atobe arched an eyebrow – Yuuta would swear they were plucked – and picked up another book before turning and heading towards the checkout desk. "I'll leave it to you then, Fuji Yuuuu-ta."
Yuuta growled. "Stop calling my name like that," he snapped spitefully.
Atobe stopped walking and turned around, chuckling in amusement. "What should I call you then, Yuu-ta?"
Yuuta hesitated for a moment before meeting Atobe's eyes. "Just Yuuta."
"Okay then, Yuuta," Atobe conceded, though the smug curve of his lips stayed the same.
As he turned to walk to the check out desk though, a couple of kids ran past, one of them pushing him a little.
Atobe stumbled back ungracefully, a grimace on his face as he adjusted his footing and then glared after them. "Uncouth commoners," he snorted, brushing down his shirt with the tips of his fingers, a look of disdain on his face.
"What's wrong with your foot?" Yuuta asked, causing Atobe to look at him quickly.
Yuuta thought he looked a little surprised for a moment, as though he wasn't expecting the question.
"Nothing."
Yuuta frowned and then shrugged, watching Atobe's feet as he followed him to the checkout desk.
He could have been wrong, but it seemed like Atobe was walking a bit gingerly.
Funny, he didn't notice it before.
The librarian seemed oddly flustered and dropped Atobe's library card as she was handing it back to him, and when he bent down to pick it up – the inconvenience of Kabaji not being here – Yuuta realised why.
It looked like Atobe had new shoes. And from the look of his heel, they weren't exactly a perfect cut.
Yuuta checked out his books quickly, realising Atobe was standing to the side, flicking through a book on a stand, apparently interested in…
Yuuta quirked his head to the side.
The basics of… pedagogy?
Somehow, he couldn't imagine Atobe ever taking up teaching… unless he was teaching about himself for some reason.
The librarian handed back his books with a hurried smile, and Yuuta fumbled in his wallet for a moment.
As he walked past Atobe, he dropped a bandaid onto the boy's pile of books.
(S)
It took Atobe a moment to recognise what Yuuta had dropped onto his book. He restrained himself from calling out as Yuuta walked out of the library, and felt somewhat annoyed that he'd let another chance slip by.
That hadn't been part of the plan.
Though he was starting to think Jirou's plan had no logic to it anyway, and it was thrice as hard to pin down Fuji Yuuta as it was to get Fuji Syuusuke. Atobe wondered if asking Jirou for more advice would be beneficial.
He supposed it could be.
After all, Jirou seemed to have a lot of insight into cheese.
As he waited for his limo to arrive, he picked up the bandaid between the tips of his fingers and looked at it.
Only a boy scout would actually carry around such a thing, he thought, unimpressed.
(S)
He'd never admit it later, but the first thing Atobe did when he got into his limo a few minutes later was to pull off his shoe and sock, and stick Yuuta's bandaid on his heel.
The ugly thing was green, and it had dinosaurs on it, and Atobe couldn't even begin to imagine where anyone would have bought such an atrocity. Nevertheless, he reasoned that no one would see it there and his foot was sore.
Sore enough to warrant a gaudy piece of elasticised plastic with dinosaurs on it.
Clearly it wasn't just bad manners that ran in the Fuji family. They could do with some taste as well.
(S)
"What are you thinking about, Yuuta?" Mizuki asked, watching Yuuta across the large library desk later that night.
Yuuta snapped out of his stupor and replied automatically. "Nothing,"
"I can see that," Mizuki sighed, curling his hair around his finger. "I know what you're thinking about."
"What?" Yuuta asked, resting his cheek on his hand as he finished scribbling the last of his answers to his English homework.
Mizuki chuckled. "Me, of course."
Yuuta blinked.
He didn't say anything back. Once Mizuki got these ideas into his head, nothing would stop him.
Besides, it was a whole lot better than Mizuki knowing he'd actually been thinking about Atobe instead.
.tbc.