;A; So sorry it's taken so long to post this. I had some stuff I wanted to add and my brain just wasn't giving me anything to work with for a while.
Age Is Just A Number
Chapter 7: Friend Or Foe
My idea of Hell, is to be young again. -Marge Piercy
Current Age: Twenty Three
In the corner of his favorite bookstore, Hiroki Kamijou was having a crisis.
He was hiding, eavesdropping on two of his female students, who were just on the other side of the shelf he had been browsing. He had seen them enter the bookstore, had even nodded at them in greeting, but until that moment he had not paid the two much mind.
"Did you see?" The smaller of the two was speaking in a hushed tone, her voice excited. "I told you. The rumors were true."
"I don't remember being told about any rumors." The second sounded skeptical, but she too had an edge of excitement in her words.
"Don't play dumb. You and I both saw it. He's really really cute now, but at what cost?"
"I just don't think he's the type to do something like that."
"Trust me, people get plastic surgery all the time. Just because he's our teacher doesn't mean he's any different. They have places now that can redo your whole face in just a couple of days. The Devil Kamijou got his face done."
Plastic surgery…? Hiroki couldn't help but scowl. Sure, he admittedly looked younger, but had the change really been that severe? If two of his students, possibly more, had come to that conclusion, there was no telling what Nowaki thought.
There was also the risk, that word might travel to the staff at the university, which would put the professor in an awkward situation. He had no sane way to explain the changes his body was going through and he knew that if it couldn't be stopped soon, he would have to stop teaching all together.
"Maybe you brats should mind your own damn business." A third and all too familiar voice had appeared, causing Hiroki to emerge from hiding. He walked around the side of the bookcase and was stunned and amazed at the man standing just before him.
No longer clad in a kimono, but normal street clothes, Yume No Usagi had lost none of his typical luster.
"O-Oh…" both females looked at one another and then at their teacher, shame as clear as day on their faces. Hiroki paid them no mind however and when they noticed this, they were quick to excuse themselves.
"What are you doing here? And in a physical form?" Hiro's eyes began to dart around, nervously looking for any sign that they were being watched. When the coast was clear, the professor grabbed onto the rabbit and pulled him back into his original hiding place.
"I may live on the moon, but it doesn't mean I can't take a day trip to earth you know. It's just a hassle to do it too often." Pulling free of Hiroki's grasp, Hazel crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well if you can appear to people in a physical form, why not just come home with me and meet Nowaki? It would make my life so much easier."
"That's what I'm here to talk to you about. I didn't come here to play with your students, something serious is happening."
"Serious?"
"I don't know how, or even why, but it seems that Chang'e has gotten to Nowaki. As I said, I don't have a lot of information on this yet, but I have a suspicion that she's trying to use him to manipulate you."
"What? No! He's not even supposed to know all this yet!" Mouth falling open in shock, Hiroki's mind began to race. He couldn't imagine how Nowaki would react to a strange woman showing up in the mirror. "I've got to get home."
"You need to be wary of him. I know he's your partner and all, but humans are easily influenced by those closest to him." Face turning very serious, the rabbit leaned his back against the nearest wall. "Look, I might be here to take your soul and all, but as I've told you, my method is a lot less damaging."
"There's no way to get out of what's happening to you, but if she takes your soul instead of me, she won't show you an ounce of mercy. You'll be trapped in the void, not dead, but not alive either and there isn't any way to come back from something like that."
"Also, it's pointless to do research here." Giving the professor a knowing look, the rabbit smirked. "People who get their souls robbed normally don't last long enough to warn other people about it and even if they do, it's the job of us to make sure those documents go unread."
"I get it." Voice full of annoyance, Hiroki pushed passed Yume No Usagi and headed towards the exit of the book store. Before leaving for good though, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder, only to see that Hazel had apparently disappeared. "Dammit."
Unlocking the door to he and Nowaki's apartment, the professor's heart clinched with worry. There would surely be no hiding behind baggy clothes, especially if his secret had been spilled by Chang'e. He would have to tell Nowaki everything and just hope that somehow his boyfriend would believe him.
"I'm home-…" Cutting himself off, the brunette was startled to find that the lights in the apartments were off. He glanced at his watch, noting that it was after ten. "Nowaki should have been home by now…"
The giant was usually never late and if he was, he sent some sort of text to notify the older man. Pulling out his phone to double check, Hiro was unnerved to see that he had not received a text from Nowaki all day. The younger male was normally all about texting at any given opportunity. His silence was frightening.
After he shut and locked the door behind himself, Hiroki slipped out of his shoes and hung his jacket up. He turned on the living room lights and wandered into the kitchen. His next thought was to look for a note, as the kitchen was normally the place where they were left.
He checked every surface he could think of, refrigerator, counters, sink, even in and on the cabinets. With the kitchen note-less, his next thought was to call Nowaki. He pulled his cell phone out again and hastily dialed, biting into his lip as he waited for his partner to answer. One ring, two, three-… A soft chime echoed from down the hallway.
Hiro instantly recognized it to be the tone that Nowaki's cellphone had. There could be no mistaking it, because the giant man had chosen a special ring (much to Hiroki's dismay) to be the professor's personal ringtone. Gripping his own phone, the older man started down the hallway towards the noise. It was coming from his office, faintly playing through the closed door.
"Nowaki?" Heart thrumming inside his chest, Hiroki turned the door knob and pushed the door, letting it swing slowly open. The younger man was there, curled up on the floor as if he had fallen asleep where he had been standing. He was sleeping so deeply that even the loud volume on his phone wasn't waking him up.
"Idiot." Sighing in relief, the professor approached the younger man and knelt next to him, running his palm lightly over Nowaki's forehead. "You scared me."
Reaching over to silence the tall man's phone, Hiro realized that Nowaki had been in the middle of texting when he had apparently dozed off. Running his brown eyes over the screen, the older male's anxiety shot back up. 'We need to talk. When will u be home?'.
Shit. Wincing, Hiro turned back to Nowaki and grasped one of his shoulders, shaking him. All at once the giant sprang to life at an alarming speed, his face contorted in rage. He shoved Hiroki sharply back and to the floor, pinning the startled professor down.
"Nowaki!" Crying out in surprise and from his head hitting the floor, the brunette looked wildly at his boyfriend, whose expression was nearly that of a feral animal. "It's just me!"
"Hiro-San." Nowaki's features instantly relaxed in recognition, before being replaced with guilt. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to push you down."
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't know. I'm really sorry."
"Well get it the fuck together!" Pushing the tall man off, Hiro grabbed for the back of his head, rubbing at the sore spot that had formed. "I get that you want to talk about something, but you don't have to slam me around."
"I'm sorry." Reaching out, Nowaki placed one of his large hands on the professor's face. "I didn't mean to do that."
"It's fine I guess." Averting his eyes, Hiroki handed the younger man's cell phone back to him and fell into silence. Stubborn as always, the brunette wasn't about to start the conversation.
You're the one who wants to talk, so get to it.
As if reading Hiro's mind, Nowaki opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed that he was at a loss for words. His storm colored eyes searched the room, as if someone should have been there holding cue cards for him, but still he couldn't seem to get his thoughts in order.
"Seriously Nowaki… Just go ahead and tell me what's on your mind." Nervous and still shaken up after the taller's attack, Hiro turned himself away from the dark-haired man, trying to get a hold on the anxiety that was coursing through him.
He waited and waited for his partner to speak, but the room was silent. Glancing over his shoulder he was startled to see the hurt expression that Nowaki was wearing, though it was obvious that he was doing his best to try to fight it off.
"Hey-… Uh… Did I do something?" Hiro could tell that there was no room for his pride at the present, so he pushed it away some and gave the younger man a place to start.
"Sort of." With a slight nod of his head, Nowaki cast his blue eyes on the professor, his gaze fiery. Instead of going on to explain, he pushed Hiro down onto his back again, this time catching his head with one of his hands. The professor attempted to sit up, but the taller man easily had him pinned.
"Nowaki, stop that! I'm not some tool for you to let your sexual frustration out on. Let me up!" Pushing against Nowaki's broad chest, the brunette squirmed in an attempt to free himself, voice rising in anger and panic.
"Hiro-San, it's okay. That isn't what I'm doing." Face falling in the same mask of hurt that he had worn earlier, Nowaki pulled back some, moving his hand from Hiro's head to his face. "I would just like to check something out, okay?"
"Check what out?" Though a lot calmer, Hiroki was still tense. Though it wasn't always a bad thing, the dark-haired man had a tendency to be overpowering, and at the moment it set the professor on edge. "Stop playing with me and just come out and say what you need to say."
"As a doctor and as your partner, I have some concerns about your health." Sounding nearly deadpan as he spoke, Nowaki's eyes began to cut into the brunette like tiny knives. Stomach tightening in anticipation and worry, Hiro couldn't help but shy away some when the giant began to undress him.
Though Nowaki's hands were as warm and gentle as always, there was a sharpness to them that made Hiroki's head spin. He held as still as he could while the taller man removed his shirt and pants, leaving him sitting embarrassingly in his boxers.
"I swear, this better not be some weird sex thing." Hissing under his breath, the professor began to rub at his arms. The room was cold and Nowaki's glowering wasn't helping.
"I know it is not really my place, but I found this today." Turning away from Hiroki, Nowaki began to dig through his bag, pulling out an all too familiar aging potion.
"You didn't use any, right?" Brown eyes wide in alarm, Hiroki snatched the bottle from Nowaki's hands, recalling Hazel's warning about it's contents.
"No, but I had it tested at the hospital today to make sure it was safe. Sometimes things like that can have dangerous ingredients."
"I don't care! You didn't have a right to go snooping through my stuff Nowaki! That's a total invasion of privacy!"
"I had no choice, Hiro-San. You've been acting strangely and I needed to find out what was going on." Voice full of worry, Nowaki's gaze softened and he gently leaned forward to place his mouth over the furious professor's. Hiro had started to protest, but Nowaki's tongue had silenced him.
The dark-haired male's large hands began to roam the planes of Hiro's body, beginning at his shoulders and working their way down his arms. From there they moved over to the literature enthusiast's slim hips, fingers tracing over every inch as they slid up the brunette's sides and back down his chest and stomach.
Hiroki, still worn out from his weekend of trying to avoid being touched by Nowaki, was finding it hard to resist the attention he was receiving. He was mad and he wanted to make sure the other man knew it, but the giant's warm hands were just too much.
"I thought you said that you weren't trying to be sexual." Breaking the kiss, Hiroki turned his face to the side as red began to soak into his cheeks and the back of his ears. "You stupid idiot, we're supposed to be having a serious discussion here."
"I am serious." Again Nowaki's voice had gone deadpan and it was enough to catch Hiro's attention. He turned his gaze back to his partner to see the dark expression in the other man's eyes. "Are you starving yourself, Hiro-San?"
"What…? No, why would I do that?"
"Are you have problems at work? Did someone say something to you that made you feel self conscious about your body?"
"No! I mean, not really…" Hiro's ego was putting up a vicious fight against his honesty. He didn't want to admit that he had been sulking about his age recently, but at the same time lying to Nowaki didn't sound any more appealing. "I guess I just can't really keep up with you, that's all."
"You work a more stressful job than I do, with all sorts of odd hours, but in the end you still have more energy. I guess I sort of feel like I might be winding down some. Which I guess makes sense, I'm quite a bit older than you are."
"That doesn't mean you can do things like this to yourself!" Looking frustrated, Nowaki turned away from Hiro, his teeth clenched together tightly, jaw set.
"Nowaki, listen to me, I'm not starving myself. I just wasn't very hungry over the weekend. I have a lot of stuff going on, things that I'm not even sure I can tell you." Pushing himself into a sitting position, Hiro shyly placed one of his hands on Nowaki's back, rubbing at the taller man's tense muscles.
"Why wouldn't you be able to tell me? Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do, stupid! It's not a matter of trust! It's a matter of-… Well, it's really more of a matter of how you take what I am going to tell you. It's a completely crazy, insane, unbelievable explanation."
"I would believe you. Please tell me what's going on."
Hesitantly, Hiroki nodded and replaced his hand on Nowaki's back with his head. His hands fell limply into his lap and his mouth had suddenly become very dry. Breathing carefully to keep himself calm, the brunette began at the beginning.
He told Nowaki about his experience with Hazel and the well. About his first meeting with Hazel after that and any that had occurred since. He told Nowaki the legend that Yume No Usagi had told him and then he did his best to explain what his role in that legend was.
All the while the tall man sat expressionless, listening without so much as a glance in the professor's direction. Even when Hiro had finished his story, Nowaki didn't move. He was rooted in place, a beautiful and cold statue.
"Nowaki…?" Shaking the younger man lightly, Hiroki was beginning to feel nervous. Had he made the right decision to tell his boyfriend what was going on? In theory, it was, but Nowaki's reaction to all the new information was startling. "I told you it was crazy."
"I've seen her you know." Coming back to life, the dark-haired man turned his blue-gray eyes on Hiro. "I've seen Chang'e. She keeps showing up here at the apartment, but I don't know what she wants. I even had a woman at the hospital, warn me about her, like some kind of psychic vision."
"What? You need to stay away from her Nowaki. Hazel says that she's trying to use you to get to me-…"
"You're just going to take his word for it? You can't honestly say you trust him."
"It's not so much that I trust him as it is that he seems more reliable. What good would it do him to tell me half the stuff he's told me?" Shrinking back from Nowaki's sharp tone, he stared at the younger man in awe. "He's never given me a reason to doubt him."
"How do you know he's not just playing you? For all you know, this Chang'e could be trying to help you out. She could be trying to save you."
"Look, I don't know all the details. I'm not saying I'm on Hazel's side or anything, but for now he's the only one I've been able to talk to and he's the only one who's given me any information. You don't know any more about Chang'e than I do, so don't assume anything about her and stay away."
"I do know that I'm aging down. Even the students in my classes are starting to notice that I look different. I'm not sure how much time I have or how fast I'm going to age down, but I don't think I'm going to be able to work much longer."
"Things are going to get very complicated here, Nowaki. I'm going to be a kid at some point and I'm not sure what you'll do when that happens. You can't take me to work and I'm not sure we know anyone who would be able to babysit me."
"There's got to be a way to fix this though…" Nowaki sighed, his expression becoming thoughtful. "Every problem has a solution, right?"
"I don't know anymore. I've seen some things recently that dispute that theory." A shiver ran up the professor's spine at his own words. He hastily began to redress himself, as if the thin layers of fabric were going to ward of the sudden chill he was feeling.
"I won't accept that." Rising from the floor, Nowaki glanced down at Hiro, his expression dark and angry. "If there's anything I can do to help you Hiro-San, I'm going to do it. So don't throw in the towel until I've had a chance to look into things myself."
"Nowaki, look, this isn't something you can just research and fix! Trust me, no one wishes that it was more than I, but you have to face reality. Or... Whatever this thing is."
"So you're just going to sit by and let it happen?"
"No, of course not, but for now there's nothing we can do but stay calm and work things out as they hit us." Running his fingers back through his hair, the brunette pushed himself up off the floor and shyly gripped at the bottom of the taller man's shirt. "This whole thing bothers me, and I'm not giving up on trying to find a way out."
"For now I think we should focus on working together rather than trying to decide to trust either Hazel or Chang'e. You especially. The less involved you are the better."
"But Hiro-San-..."
"You never made dinner. I'm hungry."
"OH! I'm sorry, I totally forgot. I'll make you something right away." Pulling away, Hiro watched as Nowaki scrambled off down the hallway and into the kitchen. He felt a little guilty for having changed topics so suddenly, but he was resolute in his decision to try to keep the giant as far away from harm as possible.
Nowaki was feeling restless, his body surging with energy that he had no way of displacing. His body was curled up around Hiro's, the older man having pulled his usual 'I'm cold' trick, and the giant worried that if he moved around too much he would wake the sleeping professor.
His legs were stiff from lying in the same position for a long time and it was everything he could do to resist the temptation to get up and stretch them. To distract himself he began to run his fingers carefully through Hiroki's hair, dissecting small tangles as he went.
Part of Nowaki was glad that his assumptions about the other man were wrong, but at the same time he didn't favor the alternative. He understood medical issues and he would have been able to remedy the problem, but when it came to the supernatural, the doctor felt like he was at a complete loss.
"You must love him a lot." Nowaki's body went rigid at the sudden intrusion of a female voice. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Relax Mr. Kusama, I do not come here with the intention of harming you or your partner."
"If you take Hiro-San away, that's exactly what you're going to do." Despite Chang'e's words and her gentle way of speaking, the young doctor couldn't help but scoot closer to Hiro, determined to keep him safe.
"I do not blame you for not trusting me, but listen to what I'm about to offer to you. While spells can not be taken back once they are used, they can sometimes be altered."
"Altered in what way?"
"Deflected would be a better word for it. How far are you willing to go for your Hiro-San...?" The ghost of a hand brushed lightly across Nowaki's face and slowly he turned his head to stare at Chang'e. He red lips turned up into a warm smile. "If you get me the item I'm looking for, I can use it to save him."
Nowaki was about to accept the offer, when Hiro's earlier warning about Chang'e came back to his mind. Could this mysterious woman be trusted? What about the 'Hazel' that Hiro had been talking to? Was there anyone that Nowaki could trust? Any way to save Hiroki?
"What do I have to do?" Fighting off the guilt that had clouded up inside his mind, Nowaki carefully rose from the bed. Glancing once more at his sleeping partner, he took a deep breath and approached Chang'e. "I'll do it, whatever it is. I'll get the item you want, but you have to swear to help Hiro-San."
"You have my word." Extending one of her delicate hands, Chang'e's smile grew, her dark eyes shining with kindness. "I want to help you both. I know what it is like to lose the one you love. To save your Hiro-San, I need you to steal something."
"Steal what?"
"I need you to take Yume No Usagi's Lunar Mirror."
Black mail, fortune telling, new characters, and teenage hormones gone wild. All that and more coming up! :) Stay tuned.
