Shingo squared himself up with the ball, sighted down the fairway, and promptly sliced his ball into the dense forest.

"Nice shot," Keisuke commented.

"Shut up."

Keisuke set up his ball and tee, and managed to drive his ball a good distance down the fairway. They returned to the cart, Akagi Golf Club emblazoned in green on its side panel.

"I'm sorry I dragged you here," Keisuke said as Shingo maneuvered the cart around the course. "You're really hating this, aren't you?"

Shingo raised an eyebrow at him. "No," he said carefully. "Why would you think that?"

"Well…"

Shingo rolled his eyes. "You can say it – I suck. It's a nice day though. And I get to drive the cart."

Keisuke laughed. "I'm glad you like it."

Shingo shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far, but it's ok, as long as I don't have to find my ball."

"I didn't make you find it the last six times, did I?"

Shingo's lips quirked up slightly. It was an expression that Keisuke had come to deem his not-quite smile.

"I guess not."

Keisuke chuckled. "Ryousuke would be really annoyed if he was here. He doesn't think there's a point in playing if you don't keep score."

"Why isn't he? Don't you usually do this with him?"

Keisuke sighed. "He's not really talking to me right now. I mean, he is, but he isn't. It's not like he's ignoring me or anything that obvious, but he's been acting upset since I told him about us."

Shingo gave him a sharp look. "Us?

Keisuke blinked. "Well…I mean, I told him that we were friends, from before."

Shingo seemed to relax. "Ah. Maybe he just doesn't like you hanging out with the wrong sort."

"Since when were you the wrong sort?"

"Since always."

Keisuke gave him a dubious sniff. "You're not as bad as you think you are."

Shingo shook his head. "What a shit thing to say. I would never say that to you."

Keisuke feigned remorse. "My mistake; I meant to say that you're a…bad egg!" He was treated to a withering glance before Shingo stopped the cart and they both hopped out to grab their clubs.

"Now that's just wrong."

Keisuke laughed. "I just have a hard time believing that Ryousuke thinks of you that way. I know he seems kind of uptight and judgmental, but he's not really. I never got the feeling he thought any less of me because of where I came from. So really, I just don't see him getting upset over you just because we knew each other back then."

Shingo glared at the fairway as if he could scare it into submission, bent his knees, relaxed his shoulders, and missed the ball completely. He swung again, and this time managed to drive the ball a decent distance with a more or less straight trajectory.

"Check that shit out!"

Keisuke chuckled. "Good one."

As they loaded the cart back up, Shingo commented, "You know, maybe you shoulda played with Ryousuke today. I mean, you've been over to my place practically every day for two weeks. Maybe he's upset because you're not hangin' out with him as much as you used to."

Keisuke scratched his head and frowned. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. We don't have to spend every minute together, you know."

"What, are you getting sick of me or something?" Keisuke asked, nebulous insecurities suddenly gathering in his mind like thunderclouds on the horizon.

"Well, no, it's just…" Shingo looked at the ground and trailed off.

"You trying to get rid of me?" Keisuke asked sharply.

"Of course not!"

"Then what's your problem? And why don't you ever want to talk about us? I'm not trying to sound like a girl, but we gotta talk about it some time!"

Shingo squinted up at him in the bright morning sun. "Come on, Keisuke, what is there to talk about?"

"What?"

Shingo hesitated, and then seemed to come to a decision. "We both know that this isn't going anywhere. Hell, I didn't even expect it'd last this long. I figured we'd see each other a couple times, then the novelty would wear off, and you'd forget about it."

"How can you think I'd just forget about you? That's total bullshit and you know it!"

Shingo gave him a rather puzzled look. "It's not bullshit; it's the truth. I didn't think you'd take this so seriously. I guess I didn't realize you'd never…" he trailed off with a sheepish squint.

Keisuke pulled back. "What, and you have?"

Shingo gave him one of his typical one shoulder shrugs. "Well…sure, yeah."

"With who?" he snapped.

"Does it matter?"

Keisuke glared at him. "It matters to me! I should have known this would happen with you."

Shingo stuck his hands on his hips. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" A cautionary look warned Keisuke he was on thin ice, but he was too hurt and angry to heed it.

"It means that next month, I'll just be Keisuke three months to you, won't I?" he growled.

Instantly, he saw how deep his words had cut. Shingo's expression slid through an impressive spectrum from stunned to wounded to unholy pissed off. "Fuck you, I don't need this!" He turned to storm off but Keisuke caught him by the arm.

"Where are you going?" Keisuke demanded.

"Let go of me!" Shingo snarled, trying to pull away from him.

But the harder Shingo struggled, the more important it seemed to keep him from leaving.

"Let go!"

Shingo shoved him and without thinking, Keisuke struck back. He managed a glancing blow to Shingo's left temple. A look of murderous rage crossed the Civic driver's face. Keisuke only had a fraction of a second to regret what he'd done before Shingo punched him square in the face. He went down, and the pain was indescribable. He realized suddenly that it had been a very long time indeed since he'd actually physically brawled with someone. He remembered taking a lot of beatings as a child, either from his drunken father or the school bullies, but he didn't remember anything ever hurting this much. He pulled his hand away from his face and groaned as he saw bright red.

Shingo stared at him, stunned speechless it seemed. He didn't apologize, or even offer to help. He just stood there!

"What the hell?" Keisuke demanded, one hand clamped over his bleeding nose.

Instead of answering him, Shingo turned and stalked off across the green. Keisuke wanted to go after him, but he was actually slightly afraid to. He sat there long after he'd lost sight of Shingo. Torrents of emotions surged through him and he could feel himself trembling as he struggled to keep them in check. After awhile, when he'd managed to pull himself together, he loaded the clubs back into the cart and headed back to the clubhouse.