Chapter 4

A/N: Ugh, sorry about the late update again. Rambles are below.

Warnings and disclaimers in the first chapter.

As usual, thank you for every favorite, follow, review and simply giving this story a chance! It's like an experimental fic for me and I wasn't really sure of it, so I'm really glad there're people who are interested to read this.

"I see it's not your friend here," Eijun commented lightly, ends of his lips lifting up to a saccharine smile after the waiter took their orders.

Miyuki propped the side of his face against his fist. "I never took you one for holding grudges, Sawamura." He paused, smirk tugging on his lips. "Smiling does suit you, though."

"It was an observation," Eijun said, shrugging and ignoring the compliment he slipped in easily. He could only blame himself for being so easily goaded that he almost fell for the trap - or test - whatever it was that Miyuki had initially planned.

"Kuramochi gave it away, didn't he?" Miyuki mused, swirling the contents of his wineglass leisurely before he took a sip.

"If subtlety is one aspect your firm focuses on, there should be different approaches for each individual and not be done uniformly; it's quite lacking, isn't it?"

"Oh, if we do have sufficient funds, we'd do so," Miyuki said, chuckling, "of course, I'm not expecting you to understand that."

Sawamura lifted his chin slightly, refusing to rise to his bait. Miyuki's underlying jab at his prestigious background was not overlooked, even amidst his chuckles. "I don't expect you to understand it either, Zaikai."

Miyuki arched a brow, "Oh?"

"Balancing these two particular professions must be tedious - on the other hand, it's rewarding, isn't it?" Eijun allowed a challenging tilt of his brows, then shifted back slightly to make space for the waiter, nodding his thanks as the food was set on the table.

"Perhaps," Miyuki answered blandly, then when the waiter bowed and took his leave, reached for the insides of his pocket and took out a printed beige rectangle, sliding it across the table. "Here's my card."

Eijun eyed it contemplatively, then took it, flipping it over. It was a strange weight, and the card had a different thickness from the business cards he had received before. A dent formed between his brows as he scanned the details briefly. Zaikai Kyuuym. Things clicked.

"An anagram wouldn't be smart if you're intending a double identity," Eijun murmured, but slid the card into his front pocket anyway.

"It's fun," Miyuki said, jaunty smile curling his lips as he brought his fork down into his spaghetti.

Eijun pursed his lips, still not figuring out the purpose of having two identities and that greatly irked him. "Your name's spelled differently from official websites."

Miyuki's eyes flicked to meet Eijun's for a brief moment, then returned back to his food. "You checked up on me?" Miyuki didn't look bothered by that at all; on the contrary, he looked rather pleased. "This is a start of a good partnership. Having interest is appropriate."

Eijun recognized that he was dodging the question, but it was no matter - he'd surely find out soon, anyway. What mattered more currently was his assumption that Eijun would join him. "I didn't promise you anything." He wanted to wince at how petulant it sounded even to his ears.

Miyuki eyed him, an amused glint alive in the brown orbs. "So you do act your age sometimes." Miyuki leaned back on his chair, satisfied smile on his face like he had accomplished something big. Eijun bristled at his comment, a little irritated by how lightly he made his observation as if Eijun should be acting like a temperamental teenager all the time. "Oh, you will, soon enough."

"You better hope so," Eijun said stiffly, mood souring slightly; he smoothed his expression over while under the guise of cutting his steak. "After all, you wouldn't want your secrets to go out public, Zaikai." Eijun didn't attempt to resist the smug grin that curved his lips.

Miyuki waved his hand as if dismissing his threat was nothing of a feat at all. "I don't do things thoughtlessly, darling."

Darling? The nerve of this arrogant bastard. Eijun's lips twitched in annoyance, but he didn't express his irritation outwardly as Miyuki continued, "Wanting to be surrounded by intellectuals is a good thing to wish for. But with your level of intelligence and your thirst for knowledge," Eijun resisted the instinctive urge to look away when Miyuki fixed his eyes on him, filled with intent that still seemed obscure to Eijun; a heavy dead weight settled in his gut. "It wouldn't be enough after a while. You'll get bored."

The conviction Miyuki's tone held almost compelled Eijun to believe him. The ends of Eijun's lips tugged up to a derisive smirk. "And you think working with you wouldn't make me lose interest?"

"Working under me," Miyuki corrected him loftily, the way his eyes darkened and dragged over Eijun almost seemed like he was implying something else - but it was gone almost as quickly as it came. Eijun's fingers tightened around his fork, unsure of what to make of it. "As for the latter... well, as long as you don't make me lose interest."

Eijun felt a prick at his ego, but otherwise remained phlegmatic on the surface. "I think first you have to interest me enough for us to get to that," Eijun said evenly.

Miyuki grinned. "I knew I wouldn't regret choosing you."

"I told you not to follow me," Ryousuke said, fingers tugging on his tie as he pulled the constricting piece of article off, flinging it on the couch.

The younger Kominato stood at the hallway, head bowed and almost looking meek. Ryousuke wasn't fooled at all by this external display; his brother had to be one - if not the most stubborn out of all the people he knew. Ryousuke pulled the fridge door open to get a can of beer while waiting for Haruichi's response. From his peripheral vision, he could see Haruichi wringing his hands and resisted the urge to separate them - then Haruichi fixed his gaze on the can of beer disapprovingly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you if you want it," Ryousuke said, kicking the fridge door shut.

Haruichi's lips remained pursed. "You shouldn't drink too much of that," he said.

"Worry about yourself first, Haruichi," Ryousuke said, and saw surprise flit over his brother's face as Ryousuke addressed him by his name for the first time since he turned up at his apartment door, uninvited. Ryousuke still had no idea how long Haruichi waited for him out there. "I wasn't particularly happy about seeing your name on the list."

A steely glint entered his brother's eyes, face turning slightly red; Ryousuke knew it wasn't out of embarrassment all too clear. He hid his smile by the rim of the can that he lifted to his lips. You never change much, Haruichi.

"I've made my choice, Aniki," Haruichi said, voice not wavering at the slightest, and for a moment Ryousuke thought he glimpsed at the rare occurrence of Haruichi's eyes flashing out from under his fringe. "And I'm not going to change it."

"It's not as easy as you think it is," Ryousuke said, more of a truth than a deterrence. It wasn't as if he had expected Haruichi to change his mind with a few jabs; that wouldn't be his brother at all.

Haruichi lifted his chin, and Ryousuke wanted to chuckle at how this scene felt nostalgic - like it was back when they were still teenagers and arguing over baseball. "I never thought it'd be easy."

"First baseball, and now this?" Ryousuke set the can of beer down on the table, leaning an arm against the edge with a mocking smirk curving his lips. "Are you ever going to have your own goals?"

For a moment, Ryousuke saw Haruichi's expression twist, as if hurt. Ryousuke felt the guilt twist his gut, but didn't say anything else to smooth his statement over. He knew it was going to be a low jab from the very beginning. "My goal is to catch up to you, Aniki."

"Don't come crying to me when you fail."

A wry grin twisted Haruichi's lips as he bent at his waist to collect his bag from the couch. "It's not absolute." Haruichi shifted the straps on his shoulder, the hesitation now completely gone, as if the visit with Ryousuke helped lifted his doubts. Ryousuke really didn't understand his brother at times. "Mum and Dad miss you."

The statement took him off-guard, and Ryousuke responded by gulping another mouthful of his beer.

A heavy silence fell on the room; like the hush that settled when people are anticipating a thrilling response, like the heavy drapes drawing over a finalizing act. Finally, as if Haruichi realized that Ryousuke wasn't going to say anything about that, he announced, "I'm leaving."

"Do you've a place to stay?" Ryousuke asked, the question more of duty as a brother than concern.

"I have a friend."

Ryousuke didn't bother to pry further; he wasn't going to fool himself into believing that he had a right to handle his brother's affairs when he only just saw him after two years. A beeping sound signaled his front door opening before it was followed by a softer, duller click of the door.

Haruichi had grown taller, if not more so than him; there was now a distinctive sharpness in his features, having finally fully outgrown his baby fats, and there was a subdued air of confidence surrounding him. The changes were subtle, but Ryousuke could pick them out well.

In the midst of his musings, his phone vibrated on the table and Zaikai's name flashed over the screen. An end of Ryousuke lips curled upwards as he reached for his phone. "Now, what a timely call, Miyuki."

Wakana slammed Eijun's door open, not at all flustered at having caught Eijun at an inappropriate time. Eijun pulled his shirt off, throwing it on the floor carelessly. He had intended to call Toji back with his incessant phone calls during dinner, but it seemed like the plan was foiled.

"Wakana, I'm changing," Eijun said calmly, not affected by her panicky appearance - she had a flair of kicking up a fuss over nothing sometimes, after all. "Maybe this can wait."

"Hell no!"

Eijun flicked his glance over at his childhood friend who now sat on his couch, arms crossed with a fierce expression on her face. Sighing, he threw his shirt on, moving over to close the door to give them at least some privacy.

"All right, so what is it?"

"Madano Tsukishima is now banging on our door looking like she's about to murder you!" Wakana gestured wildly with her hands. "This is not good, not good at all! Imagine what would happen if our parents find out about this!"

Eijun arched a brow at her, not taken aback by the news. "She was a little earlier than I expected."

Wakana blinked. "You - " Realization set in a second later and her eyes narrowed. She jabbed a finger at him and accused, "What did you do again?!"

Eijun was mildly amused by Wakana's shift in mood. Women were really difficult to understand. "It's more of who the professor did." Eijun chuckled slightly at his own joke, and could tell that Wakana was torn between laughing with him and giving him a piece of her mind.

She settled for the latter. "I can't believe you! This is not the time to be cracking jokes!"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Eijun said airily, dismissing her concerns easily, "oh, and call Franellia in for my cup of tea."

"You are calling for a cup of tea right now?!" Wakana's voice raised to a almost a screech, and Eijun winced slightly. "Eijun!"

"I know what I'm doing," Eijun said, attempting to placate her, "go back to your room."

"I'm expecting a full explanation later on." With that, Wakana left, though not before she landed a stinging slap on his arm. This woman really could hit hard. Eijun rubbed it absently, shaking his head.

A few minutes later, Franellia arrived with his cup of tea, setting it down with a small tremble. Eijun eyed the motion with mild interest, and wondered if Franellia knew of the disturbance downstairs. Anyway, the timing was almost right.

"Sawamura Eijun!" The door banged open as Madano advanced towards him with determined strides. "You're destroying my reputation!"

"What reputation?" Eijun dented the space between his brows, standing up to receive her. "And what are you doing here?"

Madano looked bewildered, then slightly uneasy at what Eijun was sure, his display of complete confusion. It quickly morphed to fury again when she spotted the cowering maid by his side. "Ah! Your favoured maid, was it?!"

Eijun cocked his head to the side. "I've no idea - "

"Frany or whatever her name is," Madano said, seething, "she's under your care. Ratted out your secret, didn't she?"

Eijun paused, turning over to look at Franellia who was positively quaking under both their eyes. "Franellia," he said, voice soft and gentle, "did you?"

"I - Sawamura-sama! It wasn't - I - " Franellia fisted the front of her apron, tears running down her flushed cheeks, unable to get a coherent statement out.

"I see," Eijun said, turning his attention back to Madano who still looked furious. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't know she would."

"Of course you wouldn't!" Madano sneered. "I heard about you being blinded by her beauty. For God's sake, I didn't take you to be that kind of man!"

Eijun had to hold back the chuckles that were threatening to burst out of his throat. "I..." He lifted his eyes to meet Madano's, letting the ends of his lips droop slightly, expression loosening to display his regret and apology, "I'm so sorry about this. What can we do to make up to you?"

Madano faltered, obviously not expecting a sincere apology. Eijun gestured to the seat beside him. "Would you like to take a seat?"

Madano shook her head, declining his offer. "I'm here about my husband. I really don't want the tabloids publishing it on the papers."

Eijun leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Right, the tabloids." He sighed heavily. "All right. I will take care of them. What else?"

"Fire her." Madano pointed to the maid who was now choking out quiet sobs. "She's your favorite, isn't she?"

My favourite gossiper. Eijun resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, that - "

Madano lifted her chin. "I'm not going to back down."

Eijun waited for a few moments to pass, then let out another troubled sigh. "There's no way other than this? She's a valued staff."

The more he tried to deter Madano, the more the model seemed satisfied, as if she was taking something precious away from him. He swallowed his scoff; if the maid really meant more than a plaything, she'd be undoubtedly safe. "Staff," Madano sneered. "Get her out."

Eijun pursed his lips, waiting for the demand to sink in.

"I'm so sorry, Franellia," Eijun said softly after a moment, stepping forward and patting her on the shoulder. He brushed the stray curl that fell in front of her eyes away gently. Franellia shook her head, managing to stammer out an apology through her muffled sobs.

"I'll pay you appropriately," Eijun murmured, and the maid nodded again - that was the only consolation she had, after all. Madano laughed, bitter and cold; as if Franellia couldn't take the humiliation any longer, she turned on her heel and exited the room with her head bowed. Eijun didn't bother to stop her - he was already tired of the charade, to be honest.

"If that is all," Eijun said, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm afraid I must tend to my sister. She's rather alarmed by your sudden arrival."

"Sorry about that," Madano said carelessly, checking the wristwatch, "it's late. I'm leaving. And I expect the tabloids not to get wind of this."

Eijun nodded; he already had another bigger scandal under his fingertips to divert their attention, anyway. "Have a good night." He inclined his head as she nodded stiffly and left, now considerably calmer as she was escorted down the hallway by one of the maids.

A vibration on the table startled him slightly. Toji Hideaki flashed on the screen. He shut the door behind him as he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Jesus! You finally answered your phone!" Toji exclaimed on the other end and Eijun rolled his eyes. Seriously, this boy had to learn to take more control of his emotions.

"What happened that's so urgent, requiring you to call me - " Eijun took a quick glance at his history, "ten times in succession?"

"There's apparently a lawsuit against us," Toji said, voice still high-strung. "And she wants a meeting face-to-face."

"Your father?" Eijun heard Toji's affirmation. "He needs someone more than twenty years his junior to teach him what to say?" Eijun asked dryly. When Toji attempted to muster a response, Eijun dismissed him with a weary, "Rhetorical question."

Eijun could hear urgent mutterings in the background. Oh, for God's sake.

"Just pass him the phone," Eijun said, voice of measured of calm as Toji gave a flustered reply. He pressed his fingers against his temple, not amused at all. His parents were only out of the country for a week and they couldn't hold the company down? What kind of employees did they have?

"Sawamura-kun!" Takuna greeted as he took the call. "I'm so sorry - "

"Cut the formalities," Eijun interrupted, tapping his finger on the arm of the couch impatiently. "I don't have time."

"I'm sorry," Takuna said again, "um, you see, this lady complained about our milk making her infant sick and she sent the medical bills along with the letter - "

"And why can't you settle this matter yourself?"

There was a nervous jumble of words, then, "I kinda offended her before."

Eijun really didn't want to know what the word 'offended' meant in his context. "Okay. Send her an official certification of our dairy products along with an apology letter but don't apologize for our product, apologize for the distress it has caused her child. If it still doesn't appease her and she still demands a meeting, wear a casual tee, bermudas - just look like a family man. Do you've a kid? Whatever it is, get one and bring him or her to the meeting. Apologize for your lack of manners; blame it on stress, alcohol - I'm sure you've lots of excuses." Eijun paused. "All right. Is that all?"

"Yes, yes, thank - "

"Please take better care of your conduct next time," Eijun said, not bothering to hide his exasperation. "Good night."

Eijun hung up the call before the man could even get another thanks in. It really wasn't that difficult, was it? What were their brains made of? He leaned the side of his head against his hand as he dialed for Ritsu.

"Ritsu? Dig that article up and send it to the tabloids." After a small pause, he added, "Franellia's matter had been settled."

"Right! That's awesome, kid!" Ritsu said brightly.

"Yeah, yeah," Eijun said, though a small smile played on his lips, "I'll get you some new sunglasses later on."

"You're the best, sir!"

There was a knock on the door, and the new attendant bowed respectfully. "Sawamura-sama, Kominato-sama is here."

Eijun closed his book. Finally. He was wondering what took Haruichi so long. "Send him in."

A second later, Haruichi stepped in, pink hair still covering his eyes like it was in high school. Eijun studied him for a moment, lips curling slightly when he realized he hadn't changed at all. "Harucchi," he said, more out of habit than anything. He had heard Haruichi's softly-uttered name in high school wrongly, and somehow it stuck; though honestly, a big part of it was attributed to Haruichi's amusing reaction.

Sure enough, a bright blush overtook his cheeks as he got visibly flustered, hand reaching to the back of his head.

"One would've thought you'd get over it by now," Eijun commented lightly, shaking his head; though it was one of fond exasperation. "I've prepared a room for you already."

"Thank you so much, Eijun-kun!" Haruichi said, smile dimpling both his cheeks. Eijun wondered how a twenty-one year old could look like a kid with just a smile. "I was really worried about my stay here."

"I imagine you couldn't have gone to Ryousuke," Eijun said bluntly, gesturing for Haruichi to follow him as he led the younger Kominato down the hallway to his room.

"Aniki would've offered," Haruichi said firmly, and Eijun's eyes slant at Haruichi's hidden ones, then he shrugged.

"Sure." Eijun passed Haruichi his room key. "So I heard you're following his footsteps, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm going to apply for a bureaucrat too." Red colored Haruichi's cheeks as he fumbled with the lock of his suitcase.

Eijun was a little surprised by how determined Haruichi sounded; but he supposed one really couldn't judge Haruichi by his appearance. "How did the meeting with your brother go?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe of Haruichi's room.

Haruichi startled, nearly dropping the clothes that he was unpacking. "How did you know?"

"Observation," Eijun murmured the cryptic reply. Honestly, it was more of a logical guess, but Haruichi's reaction confirmed it. The younger Kominato laughed; it was soft and genuine - something rare among the people he knew. Miyuki's face flashed past at that moment and Eijun cast him away almost immediately. He didn't need Miyuki occupying his thoughts more than necessary.

"Eijun-kun, your observation is sharp as usual," Haruichi said, flashing Eijun a small grin.

A/N: PHEW. I finally got this chapter out. I'm so, so sorry about the late update.

So things are finally picking up; and yeah the characters are mostly connected. I just needed to tie up the loose end on Franellia in this chapter, pffft.

And to the anonymous reviewer Taz: I really wanted to reply to your review but you were on anon. Haha, I'm glad I'm still alive, lmao.

(*whispers* Did you guys catch the innuendo)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and do drop a review to tell me your thoughts!

-mysticflakes