Hello one and all! This is another super-late update to my beloved MiyagiXShinobu fan fiction. It's back with an extra dose of drama. So please enjoy!
And as always, thank you to my lovely editor~
Miyagi woke to sunlight streaming through the windows of his living room. From the couch he scanned the room, surprised to find it in a bit of a mess. His clothes strung all over the floor, coffee table pushed out of place, couch cushions mysteriously missing. Confusion swept over him as he struggled to figure out why his apartment was so messed up. The sound of a shower running in his bathroom caught his attention.
"Oi! Save me some hot water Shinobu-..." Miyagi cut himself off quickly, hoping that Risako hadn't heard what he said. The shower turned off ominously and the dark-haired man launched himself up off the couch, scrambling into his pants. "Shit!"
"Why the sudden rush?" His head whipped around to see Risako standing in his hallway, a towel daintily wrapped around her body.
"I've got to get ready and get to class." Miyagi lied, pushed past her and into the bathroom.
"I guess I should have expected this from you."
"Expect what?" He hesitated, waiting to hear her answer before he shut the door.
"We had pretty amazing sex last night, don't you think?" Glancing over her shoulder, Risako's eyes ran down the length of Miyagi's body, a sly smile on her face. "But I guess I kind of expected you to brush me off like you always did."
"I don't really have time to talk to you about it." The man eased his hand against the door. When it was shut, he locked it for good measure. He hopped into the shower, cold water blasting him, much to his annoyance. However, it was good for waking him up and helping him to think more clearly.
What have I gotten myself into? Miyagi though hysterically, his body starting to shiver. The water felt like icy little knives, driving themselves into his back, until finally his skin had gone numb. I'm probably going to have to get professional help after this...
"You feeling okay?" Collin stood in the doorway of he and Shinobu's bathroom, staring at the honey-haired boy sprawled out on the floor. The blond began to look increasingly concerned when he noticed his roommate's pale complexion.
"Fine." Shinobu groaned, though he didn't feel 'fine'. His whole body ached and his head was spinning. "I think it's allergies."
"Oh yeah, you left before summer set in last year, didn't you?"
"I'll be fine."
"Let me run to the store and get you something to take for it." The taller boy offered, his Aussie voice soothingly calm. "I'll be back before you can say 'kangaroo'." Yanking some shoes on, Collin gave Shinobu a reassuring smile before heading out the door.
"Kangaroo." Shinobu mocked, sitting up and dragging himself back over to his bed, tripping over his suitcase on the way. He hadn't had a chance to unpack, forced to go out to dinner with Dollie and Collin to 'celebrate' his return to Australia. The Japanese boy soon learned that, that meant he was to be dragged all over town till past midnight.
At least classes haven't started yet. He thought, glancing over the schedule on his nightstand. It was like fate was trying to tell him something and he didn't like the message. Every single one of his summer classes ended up having Collin in them. No matter what the gray-eyed boy did, he couldn't escape the Aussie.
As he was plotting ways to get his schedule changed, he must have dozed off, because a soft voice was calling his name.
"Shinobu?" For a moment, the honey-haired boy pretended it was Miyagi, although the severe Australian accent made it really hard to pretend. "Shinobu, I got the medicine."
"I heard you." The smaller barked back, opening his eyes to stare up at Colin. "Thanks."
"Let me help you take it. You might want to wipe your nose too, it's running..."
Flushing in embarrassment, Shinobu slapped his hand over his nose and sat up slowly, taking the box of tissues that Colin offered to him. After cleaning himself up some, he was forced by the blond to swallow some sticky black liquid. It was bitter and burned Shinobu's throat all the way down, but he did his best to keep a straight face.
"What was that?" Shinobu groaned, drinking some of the water the blond offered.
"It's an old bush remedy for allergies. You know, sunflower oil, a little vinegar, vodka, 'n some wallaby piss."
"P-Piss?" The blond whipped his head around to glare at Colin, while the Aussie just smiled. The offender reached out his hand and ran his finger through Shinobu's soft hair, doing so cautiously.
"It's a joke Mate, it's just some allergy medicine."
"I want to see the bottle." Shrugging away from the Aussie's touch, he held out his hand. Colin shrugged before pulling a clear bottle out of his bag and offering it to the smaller one, smiling in amusement as Shinobu's gray eyes ran along the ingredients list. He stopped at a longer word and pointed to it. "What's Cetirizine?"
"Shinobu, calm down. It's just allergy medication. I don't know what Cetwhatever is, but I'm sure it's nothing bad. The medicine will only make you feel better. Might make you sleepy, but I'm sure that's the only risk." Again Colin reached over to touch some of the boy's soft hair and again Shinobu pulled away.
He's really grabby. The honey-haired boy thought in annoyance, though the action also made him feel dazed. It's just the medicine I took. It's making my head all funny. This conclusion seemed agreeable, so Shinobu decided to stick with it.
"Dollie and I are going to head to the beach. I'll be back to check on you soon." Wearing a wounded expression, Colin retracted his hand and moved away from Shinobu. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself?"
"I'll be fine." The Japanese boy assured, pulling his sheets up and turning his back to the taller boy. He listened to Colin's footsteps, then the door to their room opening. (It had a habit of squeaking at the hinges.) "It would be kind of nice if you could check on me later though."
Smooth. Shinobu scolded himself, feeling a light shimmer of heat creep across his face.
"I'll be sure to do that." Colin was smiling, the boy in the bed could heard that in the way the Aussie spoke. He wanted to see that smile, though he wasn't sure why. He didn't dare look though, for fear that he might like it more than he was supposed to.
Miyagi had never dreaded teaching so much in his entire life. Not only had he gotten stuck with a bunch of hopeless cases, but Risako was attending his class as well. The situation of the night before was beginning to sink in and the more it sunk, the more Miyagi felt like he was drowning. He had, had sex with his ex-wife, not only that, but just after breaking things off with Shinobu.
It made the older man feel a little weak thinking about it. There was no way that Shinobu would be able to find out, but the dark-haired man still felt uneasy about the situation. He didn't want to face Risako, but it was impossible to escape her. He felt like he was being pulled in a million directions, but all he really wanted was to stand still and rest for a while.
"Kamijo?" Miyagi entered the office he shared with the brunette, surprised to find the small man inside. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, Professor. I just came to get some things to work on over the summer. I figured I could make some new lesson plans for next year." Hiroki explained, packing a dozen or so folders into a file box to take home with him. "How is your summer teaching gig working out?"
"It's working."
"You don't sound very enthusiastic. Why did you take the job?"
"That's a long story..." Miyagi confessed, pulling out a cigarette and pushing it into his mouth. "I don't have time to tell you all the details, plus I'm sure you have better things to do."
"I'm free today." Hiro said, looking at Miyagi with a curious expression. "Why don't you and I have lunch or something?"
"Are... You sure?"
"Sure. I'll see you back here in the office at noon."
"Ka~Mi~Jo~ You're too kind! I knew I could count on you!" Miyagi exclaimed, throwing his arms around the brunette's shoulders and tugging him around.
"I swear, if you try anything like the other night-..." Hiro's voice was like ice and it was enough to remove the older man from him without much effort. Miyagi did manage to get back at him by making kissy lips at him and batting his eyes, to which Hiro lashed out with a large book aimed at his professor's head.
"Seriously though Kamijou..." Miyagi sighed, rubbing his head from the impact of Hiroki's make-shift weapon. "It means a lot to me."
"Anytime. Just don't do anything weird."
"Me? Never."
"Okay Professor, start at the beginning." Hiro murmured, staring across the room at his superior, who's face was pulled in a mask of horror. It was obvious that the older man wasn't looking forward to explaining the situation now that he'd had time to think things over, but it was too late to get out of it. "Whatever you say to me with be kept quiet."
"You know how I was-... 'Dating' that boy?" Miyagi asked, somewhat shakily. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest and his voice wasn't coming out clearly, like he had something stuck tight in his throat. Risako had pulled a Shinobu move, glaring at him wordlessly all through his lecture, letting her anger boil over like water in a pot. The hot steam burning the man's skin.
"Oh... That high school one who started here at the beginning of term... The chairman's son?"
"Yeah, Shinobu-Chin."
"Isn't he also your ex-wife's brother?" Hiro asked, scowling. He was beginning to see at least a small glimpse of Miyagi's problems and even he didn't like how things were looking.
"Yep, that's the one." Miyagi exhaled slowly, averting his gaze. "Well, I guess he found out about you and I's little adventure in the elevator and he took it to heart."
"Well, I would be angry too!"
"Yeah, well... He ran off to Australia and I haven't heard from him since."
"I don't recall seeing him that night." The brown-eyed man sounded thoughtful. "Can you think of anything else you might have done to upset him?"
"He and I hadn't been getting on very well due to busy schedules. We hadn't spent much time together." Miyagi confessed, his heart sinking. It was just another reminder of how much he missed Shinobu, especially now that the boy was all the way in another country. He missed his voice, his face, his bad cooking, everything. "He never tells me anything, so half the time I don't know what he's thinking."
"I know what you mean..." Hiro huffed, looking miffed all the sudden. "Nowaki and I-..." Embarrassment flooded the younger man's face and he quickly cut himself off, clearing his throat a few times. "Anyway Professor, have you tried contacting him?"
"Well, that's the other half of this story. I've thought about calling him, sure, but he's kind of blackmailing me."
"With what?"
"Um-... How to put this... Things got a little hot and heavy and he didn't much like that, so he took a photo. I'm pretty sure if I mess with him right now, he'll show that picture off to someone." Deep down though, Miyagi knew it was merely an excuse. Shinobu really wasn't the type for blackmail, at least not the type who could be good at blackmail.
"You've really dug yourself a hole, haven't you?" Hiro gave Miyagi a somewhat sympathetic look as he spoke.
"That's not the worst part."
"What could be worse than that?"
"I slept with my ex-wife last night." Miyagi coughed, digging around desperately in his pockets for his cigarettes. When he finally drew the box out, it was empty. "Dammit."
"What the hell?" Kamijou shouted, standing up in alarm. "What are you going to do now?" Becoming suddenly self aware, he quickly returned to his chair, huffing indignantly.
"Good question. She's in my literature class too."
"How could you let this happen?"
"It's not like I wanted it!" Miyagi countered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you so mad anyways?"
"I'm just surprised at you, that's all." Hiroki conceded, giving Miyagi a long hard stare. "The best advice I can give you would be to wait and then try calling Shinobu up. I know you don't think it's a good idea to talk to him, but trust me... The best thing to do in a situation like this is to get it all off your chest."
"What about the blackmail?"
"Just do it. He's a kid, he's not really going to go through with that, trust me."
"Now... What to do with the ex-wife..." Miyagi lamented, his head pounding from all the stress bouncing around inside it.
Three days had passed and Shinobu was finally settling in to his new life in Australia. His allergies had been remedied, thanks to Colin. He was getting around to memorizing his schedule and getting through his assignments. Other than the fact that the blond was stuck to him like glue, everything was going swimmingly, and yet Shinobu found himself feeling uneasy. He was wondering about Miyagi more and more with each passing day. Was the old man thinking about him? Did he miss him? What was he eating now that no one was there too cook?
He's probably fine... He lived alone before I came along... Shinobu tried to reassure himself, but he couldn't help worrying that something was being missed.
"Shinobu!" A bright cheery voice interrupted the honey-haired boy's morose thoughts. He pulled his head up out of his text book and turned to look at the beaming face of Colin's girlfriend Dollie. She had been hanging around Shinobu a lot since his return and although he thought she was very nice, she was quickly becoming like Colin. Like a little buzzing fly that wouldn't leave him be. "Have you heard?"
"Heard what?" The Japanese boy questioned, his expression bored.
"Colin and I are going to go to his parent's beach-house at the end of this month, you know, when all the unit tests are over with. We'd like you and a couple other people to come with."
"It's a nice offer-..."
"We aren't going to take no for an answer. I promise we aren't going to make you get in the water." The dark-haired girl winked playfully and ruffled Shinobu's hair. The boy scowled, reaching his hand up to smooth his hands, reminded once more of the embarrassing night he almost drowned. It was then that a familiar blond came stomping over, his face locked in the same joyous grin as Dollie's.
"Shinobu! I have something to talk to you about." Colin said when he got close enough to be heard. "Dollie and I are going to be going out to stay in my parent's-..." Shinobu was about to explain that Dollie had told him, but she got there before he did.
"Colin, I already told him."
"You did?"
"I told you I was going to." Dollie grumbled, looking s little annoyed. "Remember?"
"No, sorry. I don't remember ever hearing you say anything about that." Colin looked thoughtful, but the memory obviously wasn't coming back to him.
"It's alright, she told me either way." Shinobu closed his book and stood up, catching the blond's eye for a second. "I-I guess I'll go with you guys if it's okay."
"It's more than okay!"
"It's the perfect way to let off some steam after testing is done." The dark-haired girl babbled, one of her hands snaking it's way into one of Colin's. He gave her a stiff smile and laced their fingers together. She saw the tense way he looked at her and began to frown, averting her gaze to the ground, pulling her hand free. "Anyways, I should go. I'm meeting a friend."
As quickly as she had arrived, she was gone.
"Is something wrong with you two?" Shinobu asked, though he didn't much care to know. From what he had seen in the three days with Colin and Dollie was that they could go from lovers to enemies in a matter of seconds. It was mostly Colin's fault, since he seemed to be very aloof to her feelings, always seeming to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
"Well, last night her and I were discussing maybe taking a hiatus from dating and then she comes up to me today like it never happened. She does it all the time and it's getting really old." Colin kicked a small rock off the sidewalk back into one of the school's planters, his expression frustrated. "She's a sweet girl and I really like her, but I'm just not feeling it anymore."
"I wish I could say the
he same for me and my uh-... Ex." Shinobu grumbled, sounding just a tinge bitter. The Aussie raised his eyebrows at the smaller boy, looking surprised. "What?"
"You've just never really mentioned much about anyone or anything back in Japan."
"There's not a lot to talk about really."
"That's not what I see." Colin's voice was gentle, but he couldn't hide the curiosity spouting forth from behind his kindness. "You look like you have a lot to talk about actually. I thought that the first time I saw you."
"Well, you must be blind, because I don't have anything to say about anything back home." Shinobu snarled, grabbing his things and starting for the dormitory.
"Shinobu! Come back Mate! I didn't mean anything by it!"
"Just drop it, okay?"
"Okay, I'm sorry." The blond caught up to Shinobu and cautiously placed one of his hands on Shinobu's back. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"S'fine." A minuscule itch was crawling up the smaller boy's spine at Colin's touch. It made him want to duck away, but at the same time he wanted to stand very still. The Aussie's hands were gentle and Shinobu couldn't help but enjoy even a simple thing like that.
"If you ever do want to talk, I'll be here, alright?"
"Yeah... Thanks." Shinobu glanced sideways at Colin, his gray eyes appraising the blond. His face flushed a bit when the Aussie smiled down at him. This almost feels like-... Being with Miyagi. Almost.
Thank you very much for reading! iwi Stay tuned~
