Ughhh this was single-handedly the most revised a chapter of this story has ever been! I went away from my original outline which I wrote over a year ago and apparently my brain has fried since then.

Enjoy; I write this at 10pm, and at 9:30pm I opened this document in a sense of obligation to FINISH IT AND GET IT OVER WITH! I was sick of looking at it and yet I managed to revise it into something I'm satisfied with.


He knew he was grinning like an idiot and he hardly cared as he got out of his bed, briefly throwing his blanket back over his bedspread in the impression of making it, and snuck into the bathroom like some sort of 6'2" naked ninja. The bathroom was all fogged up, he couldn't see his reflection in the mirror and the entire vicinity smelled like that cherry blossom body wash she always used, and hopefully she was having such a nice shower she had no idea what was coming.

Ha, coming. Then he shook his head—because he sounded like Shuuya —why did he still make so much fun of Shuuya? It wasn't like Shuuya needed to hatch elaborate schemes just to sleep with girls, like he now did. Old habits died hard.

"Is someone out there?" Takako demanded, and Shinji groaned, quietly. Goddamn Chigusa reflexes.

"Hey, if someone is out there, you'd better get ready for the fight of your life, you son-of-a—"

As amusing as it was to hear Takako bluff (…or not bluff), Shinji decided to spare her from thinking of any more fight scene clichés and just pulled the blue shower curtain back. "It's me, you idiot."

"Oh fuck you, Shinji, I wanted to hit someone," Takako said, disappointment all over her face as she dropped the bottle of shampoo she'd been clutching.

Shinji just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm coming in." Takako just shrugged, not seeming to care either way, and he frowned, not liking being ignored. "So you always bring an overnight bag with you when you impulsively come to someone's house?" he asked.

"I keep stuff in my car," Takako answered, looking over her shoulder at him, her curtain of wet hair sticking to her back. "That was so mean, what you did. I was thinking I had an epic fight scene coming."

"Who did you think it was, a killer?" Shinji asked, his breath hot on her ear as he kissed her neck.

"He could've killed you and gotten to me," Takako said defensively. "I mean, come on, Shinji, look at me. I'd kill someone to get to me too. I'm me."

"Get a load of the ego on this girl," Shinji chuckled. "Do us both a favor and turn around."

"No."

"No?"

"No. That is not a good idea, it's the reason I was in here alone!" Shinji made a wordless sound conveying his offense, and she sighed. "It's not personal, idiot, I'm going to be all—sore and I'm supposed to be shadowing someone else today and I don't want to be limping! You are way too rough!"

He sighed, keeping his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her shoulder. "Fair enough."

Takako chuckled, reaching behind her and running her fingers through his wet hair. "Aw, Shinji, don't sound so glum. I'll make it up to you when I get off."

"Gonna have to better than that."

"We can both get off?" Takako offered.

"You sound like the tagline of a terrible porno."

Takako bit her lip, trying to avoid Shinji's pleading expression, and a wicked grin spread across her face. "I've always wanted to try this on you…"

"Try what?" Shinji asked suspiciously, but Takako just grinned wider and squatted down, scooting closer until her breath was on his chest. She pressed a kiss under his navel and he groaned, feeling his abdominal muscles tense and tremble beneath her lips. If she did what he was hoping she'd do, he was pretty sure he was going to lose his— oh fuck.

"Am I… doing this right?" Takako asks innocently, fisting her hand around the base of his cock, and it took Shinji Mimura and all his brilliance a moment to gather his thoughts and realize his dick was in Takako's mouth and what the fuck was going on because in all the years he'd known her, he'd never once stopped to let himself imagine for a fraction of a second that someday in the near future Takako Chigusa would be blowing him in his shower.

It wasn't even that she worked him like a pro, because she really didn't (he was tempted to say she sucked, but the pun was just so awful he couldn't bring himself to vocalize it)—first time, obviously, and thinking about thatjust about finished him off better than any of Takako's ministrations—but just the way she was so enthusiastic about it, pressing her lips around him, tugging on him with her mouth and positively grinning around his dick WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON.

He shut his eyes and fought back the urge to grab her hair and guide her along, because he was pretty sure that will make her angry.

He ended up grabbing her hair. As he predicted, it did make her angry.


Apparently starting the morning off being blown by Takako Chigusa was enough to make the rest of the day's happenings irrelevant. (Ikumi had glared at him when he'd finally gone into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast, but even the idea that his younger sister was grossed out by his behavior wasn't enough to ruin his high. If she was a true Mimura she'd be happy for him goddammit—)

"MIM," shouted Shuuya, banging his hand on the table, and Shinji stirred to attention, very nearly spilling his drink (which he'd been gripping onto). "Oi. Earth to Mim, unless you want me ordering for you."

Shinji winced. "Sorry, Shu. Just had a… good morning."

Shuuya narrowed his eyes. "Is it 'go to work drunk' day? Goddamn it I need to get a job, you guys always celebrate that without me and I feel left out!"

"Takako blew me in the shower," Shinji said, because the truth would suit him far better than a lie.

Much to his annoyance, Shuuya just snickered. "Hah. Congratulations on turning 16, Mim."

"What the hell does that mean?" Shinji asked, insulted (still not used to the poles swapping, otherwise known as Shuuya having more sex in a day than he did in a month).

"When you're having as much sex as I am in a day—every position, all over the house, mind you—you become desensitized to this sorta thing," Shuuya answered snootily. "So nice that Yukie works nights, she helps me work on my lyrics all morning—"

"Is that a metaphor for having sex? Because it's a lame one."

Shuuya ignored that. "She's my muse, she helps me think o' stuff to write about. It's harder than it looks, Mim, let's see you create something outta nothing."

Shinji rolled his eyes, deciding not to comment on the successful software business he'd created, and instead stirred his drink up absentmindedly. "I've got other things on my mind. You would do well to hope I never pick up songwriting, because I'd probably be better than you at it."

"I'll believe that one when I see it." Shuuya grinned. "Then again you do have that unrequited love thing goin' on, you could milk some serious emotion from that…"

"You make it sound much lamer than it really is. I'm not going to go chasing Takako trying to get her to be in a relationship with me. She's not interested."

"You should just tell Takako that you love her and ask her out already, what's she gonna do, say no? She's already sleeping with you." Shuuya felt like he'd said this before (he had).

"Spoken like a man who knows where his next thousand lays are coming from," Shinji answered, rather defensively. "You and Yukie were love at first sight, Takako would rather gouge my eyes out than agree to go on a date with me. Can you imagine us on a date? Holding hands? Going to the movies?"

"I thought you were, like, this super-suave ladies' man," Shuuya commented, chewing on his straw.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone called me that," Shinji mused, staring out into space.

Shuuya chuckled. "Ladies' man thwarted by Takako Chigusa. Oi, Mim, you're like a cliché, the ladies' man aaaalways gets played by the one girl he can't get, and then he has to undergo some big cathartic journey to try and win her over. You're basically a rom-com now. I should tell Yutaka, maybe he can write a screenplay about you…"

"Shuuya," Shinji said, now annoyed.

"And if he does write a movie about you, then I can star as the awesome misunderstood best friend with a band, and I can play at the reception, and then everyone'll wanna book Wild Seven and I'll be so successful I'll never have to worry about money again and Yukie's dad will stop calling to tell her that it's never too long to fix a mistake and—"

"I think you're getting real life confused with fantasy, dumbass," Shinji commented. "Besides, you want your big break to come from playing a wedding singer in a rom-com? That's a new low, Shu."

Shuuya shrugged. "Mim, there comes a time in a man's life when he realizes there are certain things he values more than shame or respect. For example I'd rather everyone thinks I'm an idiot with his head in the clouds than be one o' them damn soulless lifeless zombies you call employees—"

"Shu, there is a reason I offered to buy you lunch, and it wasn't to listen to you wax poetically about the disappointment caused by your career choices," Shinji interrupted.

"I know, Mim. S'cause you couldn't stand to be away from my awesome face for longer than twenty-four hours. I mean, can't say I blame ya, but my wife is rather fond of me, and—"

"Shu, goddamn it. You know what I'm about to say."

Shuuya sighed. "Mim, come on. I don't wanna hear it."

"You don't wanna hear it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't hear it. Shuuya, you need to find a damn job. Potential rock star is not exactly something you can put on your tax exemption forms. And you're wasting time. Ever planning on using that marketing degree?"

Shuuya groaned. "I just keep thinking there's something out there, that's not a boring corporate job! I'm not meant to sit in a damn cube all day, Mim, I dunno how you do it—and besides, what if there is something for me out there, and I miss it? What if the universe has some big plan for me and I blow it slaving away at a 9-5 job?"

Shinji tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. "Shu, you've been helping me with some shit I'm very ill-equipped to handle—"

"Because you're emotionally stunted and caring about a girl is causing your programming to short-circuit—"

Wisely choosing to ignore that, Shinji continued. "You are not completely unqualified for this position. I'm not sure why I'm even bothering to suggest it, but…. We could use a bit of a boost, and I think you'd be a good office administrator."

Shuuya's eyes had gotten wide. "An administrator!?"

Shinji shrugged. "Sure. Office admins are more for morale anyway. Planning work assignments, supervising everyone, overseeing wear and tear to make sure they're not breaking things. You'd just have to get the department heads to sign off on it. And if you ever have any good ideas you could pitch them, because it's not completely unlikely you'll have a good idea once you start working."

Shuuya was quiet, very quiet, so uncharacteristically quiet Shinji was beginning to think he'd shorted his best friend's brain out. "Shu."

"I'm deciding," Shuuya huffed, holding a hand up for silence. "Look, I gotta talk to Yukie about this… nor do I approve of blatant nepotism in the workplace—" Shinji snorted, which made him scowl—"but it never hurts to work a 9-5 just to get some money while I figure out what I'm going to do in the world. So… I leave you with that."

"All right then," Shinji answered pleasantly. "Do you want me to, I don't know, get you some paperwork to look over? Or—"

Shuuya cringed. "Ey, leave the marketing to me, a'ight? I'm the one who's an expert at it. You just worry about marketing your fine ass to Takako." He paused. "Please don't tell anyone I said that."

"Said what?"

"I take it back, Mim. You are a pro."


Executive summary, executive summary… the new software was supposed to be pitched to possible investors tomorrow afternoon, which gave Shinji until tomorrow morning exactly to finish it up.

And now that that scheduling conflict was done and over with… he could either get file that paperwork that had been bothering him, rearrange his office again, deal with whatever it was that was buzzing inside his curtain, or do what he usually did at work, play Spider Solitaire.

Spider Solitaire it was. He was almost glad he got paid for the work he did and not hourly, because stealing company time from his own company seemed like a real counterproductive action.

Then his phone rang, and he answered, balancing it between his shoulder and his ear. "Hello, Shinji Mimura speaking—"

"I am so horny right now."

Shinji paused. "Can't… quite help you with that, Pop. You asking for a recommendation, or—"

"Shinji? Oh, fuck." Kensei Mimura, always a pleasure. Except not really.

"Nice to hear from you too. You might've noticed I introduced myself when I picked up the phone. My therapist will most definitely be informed of this conversation."

"Very funny, Shinji. How've you been, son?"

"Never better. Isn't there someone you need to speak with? Seemed urgent."

"Shinji, I've been meaning to call you. I'm getting married."

Shinji paused. "And yet you're calling random people and telling them you're horny. That seems counterproductive. Unless you're going for a five-time-divorced lifetime achievement."

His father sighed. "Shinji, I know you're probably not happy to hear from me, but it would mean a lot to me if you and Ikumi came. I haven't seen Ikumi since she turned sixteen, I would like to see my daughter at my wedding."

"I'll pass the message along. Or you could just call her. I wouldn't recommend greeting her the way you greeted me, though. Kinda jarring."

"Shinji goddamn it. I'm serious. Be an adult about this, please."

Nothing really pissed him off more than his father's guts, and here he was, sitting in the fancy office he'd worked his ass off listening to his father talk to him like he was a child. No fucking way. "Excuse me for calling bullshit, Pop. Unless you haven't grown tired of signing alimony checks yet."

"You're my son. Ikumi is my daughter. We might have had our differences over the years, but that doesn't mean you two aren't welcomed at my wedding. I want you kids there. This one is going to last."

"I'll catch the next one." Grudgingly, he added, "but I will tell Ikumi. Don't hold your breath on that one."

"Yes, I'm sure I know whose side she's on here." Kensei was silent for a few moments, and Shinji checked the phone to see if his father had hung up. No such luck. "Shinji, my fiancée wants you to speak at the wedding. I suggested she meet you first."

Shinji openly snorted. "What, are you serious? What the hell does she want me to say? Wish you luck on number three?"

"I can see this isn't going anywhere. Call me when you grow up, son." The line went dead.

Shinji inhaled furiously, willing himself to calm down as he set his phone down, resting his head in his hands. Motherfucker. Years of trained forced frosty calm tranquility flushed down the toilet thanks to one call from his damn father.

Like fuck he was going to call Ikumi, that was a conversation he'd have in person. But it was 4:30pm and any kind of work he was going to get done sure as fuck wasn't going to get done now.

The toy zen sand garden Shuuya had given him for Christmas—complete with calming stones and a little rake to rake the sand up with—was mocking his forced tranquility. Instead he crumpled the closest piece of paper he could reach and chucked it at his basketball hoop, and seeing the paper ball sail through the makeshift hoop made him smile a little.

His phone beeped, reminding him to charge it, and picking up his phone made him remember something else. Someone else, rather. Someone who could always cheer him up even when she tried her hardest to do the exact opposite.

She was either working or sleeping but either way words would be necessary to get what he wanted and he had none. So he settled for a basic message that would get his point across without belaboring the underlining objective here.

"?"

He drummed his fingers impatiently, willing himself not to stare at his screen (but he did anyway).

Five long, agonizing minutes passed until his screen lit up again, and he dropped his zen garden rake hastily before reaching for his phone. He made himself count to five slowly before he checked his phone.

"!"

He'd take that as a yes.


She'd answered the door, and looked like hell. His comment about missing the lingerie had been answered with a smack.

"I was taking a nap, since some people have to work for a living," she said, glaring at him as he rubbed his wounded shoulder gingerly. "You're lucky I'm bored, by the way. What's with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He considered telling her, but he was here for one thing and talking was not currently on his agenda. "Tell you later," he told her, crossing the distance between them and cutting her off with a kiss.


"Did you tell anyone about us?" Takako asked suddenly, rolling over and frowning at Shinji.

"Shuuya." Shinji glanced at her. "All right, in my defense, he figured it out. I didn't tell him anything."

"I should get to tell someone." Takako scowled.

"Tell whoever you want. Take out a billboard downtown. Rent an airplane and tell the world." Shinji yawned. "I'm tired."

"You can stay, just don't cry when you wake up and I'm not here," Takako told him, smirking. "I'm not gonna lie, Shinji, this is kinda fun."

"What, promising to marry me after you've fucked me?"

"That and this whole… sex thing. I should've fucked you way sooner." She grinned, sitting up and digging in her bedside drawer for another condom, and threw it at him, turning towards him expectantly. "Hurry the hell up."

Shinji was up (pun not intended) and ready to go in approximately four seconds, and he tackled her, kissing her and pinning her to her bed underneath him. "I actually came by here to talk to you about something."

"I know," Takako told him between heavy gasps, rolling them both over and squirming to get on top of him. "I'll ask you later when we have our clothes on."

"But I—" Takako clamped her hand over his mouth, moving her hips pointedly. Shinji nodded and grabbed her hips, moving his hands behind her to grab her ass.


He ignored his stomach grumbling, ignored that he really had to pee, ignored that his iPhone was in his abandoned pants and he could hear his missed call beep at minute intervals. He was actually beginning to consider a nap when Takako shifted beside him, pushing up on his chest and getting out of bed.

"I have to go," she said, glancing at him as she put her bra back on.

"Oh, right. Work." Shinji had forgotten, and his previous blissful zen went down the drain. "If I told you I was having a heart attack right now, would that change things?"

"No." Takako frowned. "Pink or blue scrubs? I hate not being able to wear actual clothes. I feel like a slob rolling up in these things every day." She scowled at him. "Not that I mind the picture of you in my bed, naked guy, but you need to get going unless you want to be a surprise for Hiroki when he gets home. No offense, but I think that'll probably traumatize the shit out of him."

"Why? He's seen my penis."

Takako actually looked like she wanted to hear the story behind that one, but thought otherwise. "Aren't you supposed to be cooking for your sister tonight? And what was that big thing you needed to talk to her about?"

Shinji sighed, getting out of bed and going for his pants, bending down to pick them up. "Take a picture, Chigusa, it'll last longer."

"Maybe later." She shooed him out of her room, pushing him in front of her and smacking his ass in a rare moment of playfulness. "Mimura, I know something's eating you. What happened?"

"My dad's getting married." Shinji shrugged.

She made a face. "Why is everyone getting married? Is there an impending apocalypse I don't know about?"

"You did just sleep with me after I texted you an exclamation point," Shinji pointed out.

"Very true. But I know what's bugging you know, those abandonment issues again," Takako said knowledgably, nodding her pretty head. "Okay. Look, Mim, I'm a doctor, not a shrink, so no promises I can fix whatever deep-seeded problems you have. But I'll call you later."

Shinji chuckled. "Not really much to say on the subject."

"And if I believed you, I would be adding to those abandonment issues." Takako shook her head, digging for her keys. "Besides, I'm probably gonna get bored later… I need you on call." She raised her eyebrows suggestively and offered him a rare grin.

That made him laugh. "What if I said going on a date with me would erase the abandonment issues entirely?"

"I would go to work, which is in fact the exact reason I keep telling you I'm not going to date you," Takako replied promptly, getting in her car. "See ya!"

Shinji watched her drive off, mostly amused. There was no way it was going to be that easy.


I want to say... five or six more to go, but who knows for sure, I might have another idea along the way. :D Stay tuned!