Chapter 10

There was only so much you could to avoid someone you were working directly with, as Kisa had come to discover. Yukina had started helping the assistants draw backgrounds and objects but as the day grew later and the pages came together, they needed more people to apply screen tones. Yukina knew what screen tones were, of course, but he hadn't much practice in applying them, so Kisa had ended up demonstrating for him.

"Oh I work for a lot of authors," one of the girls was saying. She and Yukina had gotten a conversation going while Kisa cut the screen tone, getting it ready for Yukina to apply. There were only a few pages left, and Kisa was ready to get out of there. He had received messages over the day saying the rest of the manuscripts had come in, so they were just waiting on Okamoto's. Kisa felt terrible about the fact that he hadn't even managed to beat Yoshikawa-sensei, who was chronically the last to get in her manuscript. "I actually mostly work for BL ones, though."

"Ah, so you work for Sapphire," Yukina said. Kisa presented him with the screen tone, since he'd already showed him where it needed to be put, and Kisa flinched as their fingers touched. Yukina locked eyes with him for a second before turning back to his conversation with the assistant.

Kisa turned away and said, "I'll, um, send Takano-san a text and let him know we'll be back soon." He didn't even wait for anyone else at the table to acknowledge him. He just went into a corner of the apartment/studio combo where he had dropped his bag on an end table. He'd left his cell phone in there, tired of the constant texts and attempted calls he was getting from his boss when they were working as fast as they could.

When he reached in and grabbed his phone, though, his bag rebelled and fell to the floor. Since it was open, a few things fell out, including the tankobon that he never thought to take out. Kisa scowled at it, but then he jumped when he realized Yukina was there beside him. It wasn't entirely suspicious, since his bag was there as well, and Kisa willed his nerves to calm down as Yukina took a bottled water out before noticing the tankobon.

"Oh. That's one of your authors, right Kisa-san? One that only publishes chapters every other month." Yukina leaned down and took the volume into his hand. "I got this one but… I think I lost it the day I started working for Marukawa." Then he presented the volume to him, and Kisa had a decision. He hadn't directly talked to the guy in days; even as he was explaining how to apply screen tones, he'd talked to the page more than his coworker.

Yukina seemed confused as to why Kisa was so hesitant, so Kisa finally said, "…that's not mine. It's yours."

"Mine?" Yukina took it back and stared at it, even though there was really nothing that would identify it as his as opposed to anyone else's.

Kisa still wouldn't look him in the eye, so instead, he clutched his cell phone in his hand and stared at the floor. "Your first day at Marukawa, in the morning you ate at that café you brought me to later, right? I was there, too, and saw you drop it."

Yukina had the tankobon in both hands by then and looked like he wanted to say something, when Okamoto suddenly stood at the table. The chair she'd been sitting in toppled to the floor, startling Kisa, who was facing her, and causing Yukina, who was facing away, to turn and look. "Done!"

"That's great," Kisa said with a relieved smile. "I'll make you all some tea before I bring the pages in."

The assistants all chorused their thanks, and Kisa managed to get around Yukina and into the kitchen. It was only when he was in the kitchen, trapped in a corner where he'd gone to get the sugar out of the cupboard, that he realized Yukina had followed him in.

"Kisa-san," he said. Kisa had turned and seen him right there, and now he braced himself for anything, expecting Yukina to slap him or yell at him or maybe, given that he had the patience of a saint, kiss him.

Instead, in a quiet voice, Yukina said, "Why are you avoiding me, Kisa-san?"

Instead of relaxing, Kisa tensed even harder. "I already told you."

"Everyone is capable of love, Kisa-san."

"Well maybe I don't love you! Did you ever think of that?" Kisa's eyes were slightly wide in anger, and he got even more ticked off when Yukina continued to just stand there stoically. "I don't hook up with guys I know I'll see again."

"Then why did you give me that blowjob?" Yukina was as blunt as ever and it made Kisa flinch and hunch his shoulders, knowing full-well that they were probably putting on a good show for Okamoto and her assistants.

There was silence between them as Kisa just nervously played with the bag of sugar in his hand. Okamoto liked two spoons of sugar in her tea, Kisa had learned over the years they'd worked together. Kisa personally liked five, but he liked sweet things.

Like, he thought dangerously, Yukina. "Maybe I don't want to love you. My life was a lot easier before I met you." He felt frustrated as he wiped away some stray tears with his free hand. It wasn't really a good idea to be seen crying here in his author's studio. Before he could do anything else, though, Yukina had leaned down and pressed their lips together gently. Kisa's eyes went wide before he slowly closed them, at least having the presence of mind to put the sugar on the counter instead of dropping it.

When Yukina finally pulled away, he was smiling warmly and said, as if it were the only thing that needed to be said, "I do love you, Kisa-san."

"Kisa-san! I'll make tea myself, you just go bring the pages to Takano-san," Okamoto called from the other room, pretty much confirming for Kisa that everyone out there had heard them. Kisa blushed but nodded.

"Come on," Kisa said, ignoring the fact that Yukina had taken a hold of one of his hands and wasn't letting go at that point. Kisa glanced over to the assistants, who were giggling, and he just narrowed his eyes.

"Kisa-san!" said the one Yukina had been talking to earlier. "The Sapphire editors said to make good use of that birthday present."

Kisa just ducked his head, not having the energy to come up with a witty retort.

Once they were outside, Yukina asked, "What did the Sapphire editors get you for your birthday, anyway?"

"Flavored lube," Kisa said, figuring he had nothing to lose at that point. "You know, for sex. As if I don't have some already." When he saw Yukina's eyes register what he probably thought were some rather interesting implications, Kisa said, "I need to get home and take a shower, in case you haven't noticed."

"We can shower together, Kisa-san," Yukina said, his voice even.

Much to Yukina's surprise, Kisa nodded. "Yeah."

xxx

As soon as they were in the shower Yukina pressed Kisa against the wall and started kissing him feverishly, making short work of getting his tongue involved. He ran his hand through Kisa's hair, pulling the drops of water that had already collected in it from the shower spray away. Finally Yukina pulled away, and as he pressed their foreheads together, he said, "What would you like me to do, Kisa-san?"

Kisa blushed and ducked his head, though Yukina was still petting him. "Whatever you want."

"But I want to make sure you feel good, Kisa-san."

It was new to Kisa, to be sure, to be with a man who actively cared about him and asked him what he wanted to do. He could be forceful in bed, sure, but this was somehow completely different. Now that he'd been given permission, though, he turned and faced the wall.

"Kisa-san?" Yukina asked, looking confused.

"Reach around and jerk me off," Kisa said. When Yukina didn't reply, Kisa added, "It's what I was thinking about, in the morning after we edited the storyboards."

"So you were thinking about me," Yukina said with a smile. He pressed himself up against Kisa's back, rubbing a pointer finger over one of his nipples and making him twitch. "That makes me really happy."

"Of course I was," Kisa said, breathing heavily as Yukina ghosted his fingers over his inner thighs. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. Even after I kicked you out after…" He ducked his head again and closed his eyes when Yukina finally took him in hand. "That night I kicked you out, I took the first cold shower of my life."

"Really?" Yukina asked, gently stroking with one hand while cupping Kisa's balls with the other.

Kisa gasped before saying, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly sexually repressed. I just felt guilty that the resulting orgasm would be because of you."

Yukina kissed the top of Kisa's head and Kisa looked up, confused. He was just met with a gentle smile as Yukina continued to work, and soon Kisa was reduced to a shaky mass of flesh, leaning his elbows against the wall of the shower and scrunching his eyes closed as Yukina worked him towards completion.

"I suppose this does make us even," Yukina muttered into Kisa's shoulder.

"W-what?" Kisa managed, his face red and the groans he was trying to repress getting harder and harder to stifle.

"I never got to do anything for you that night," Yukina said simply.

"I'm not exactly keeping score of the blowjobs and handjobs I'm involved in," Kisa muttered, and then he bit his lip. Yukina brought his head down and licked the back of Kisa's neck, and he finally let out a moan, blushing as he released into Yukina's hand. Yukina kept pumping, pulling every last bit out. When Kisa was sure he was done, he fell back against Yukina's naked chest, acutely aware of the erection pressed into his back. Yukina didn't seem to mind, though. He wrapped Kisa in a one-armed hug, while Kisa took the hand that had just jerked him off and licked his fingers.

Yukina leaned down to Kisa's ear and said, "I love you, Kisa-san." Then he pulled his hand from Kisa's mouth and used it to direct the man's face towards his so they could kiss.

"I must taste like cum," Kisa muttered against Yukina's lips.

"You taste amazing, Kisa-san," Yukina said, and then, as if as an afterthought, he added, "I love you."

"Yeah, yeah," Kisa muttered, but he was still wrapped up in Yukina's arms. "The quicker we wash, the quicker we can get to round two."

Round two led them to the bed, bodies hastily dried but hair still dripping wet. They kissed all the way from the bathroom and Yukina was the one who ended up tumbling backwards onto the bed. Once he had arranged himself in a more comfortable position Kisa climbed atop him. "Are you… going to be top, Kisa-san?" Yukina asked, looking up at him with undisguised lust.

Kisa considered this as he leaned back on Yukina's knees. Then he smiled and said, "No. I have an even better idea." Then he leaned over to his nightstand and pulled out one of the drawers. He pulled out a tube of something that looked about half-used. When Yukina glanced at it, Kisa said, "I did say I already have some."

Yukina was already erect, since he hadn't gotten a turn in the shower, and Kisa ignored his groin in favor of leaning down and kissing Yukina as he prepared himself, fingers slick with lube. Yukina had one hand laced through Kisa's hair and another pumping him, getting him erect again. When Kisa finally felt ready he reached to the bedside again for a condom, and once it was in place, he opened the tube again and spread a liberal amount of lubricant on Yukina's cock.

As Kisa leaned down for one more kiss, Yukina said, "Kisa-san? What are you going to do?"

Kisa leaned back and said, as he took Yukina in hand, "What else? I'm going to ride you." Finally he started lowering himself down, eyes scrunched in concentration as he slowly sat. Yukina was just laying there, propped up on his elbows and looking amazed as he was sheathed inside the man on top of him. "Figured I should… take the lead, since you've never done this before."

"Kisa-san…" Yukina was still as Kisa started moving up and down on him.

After a few times, though, Kisa cracked one eye open and said, "What, you're going to let me do all the work?"

"I'm sorry, Kisa-san! We can switch if you want." He started to get up, but found himself pushed down on the bed with more strength than he was aware Kisa had.

"Stay the fuck where you are," Kisa growled. He sat back, taking more of Yukina's cock inside him again. "I'm not used to waiting for a guy as long as I have for you, and I'm not letting you ruin it just because you don't know what to do."

"Kisa-san…" Yukina's eyes were wide, and when Kisa met them, he could tell he was even more aroused.

"If you want to do something, put those nice hands of yours to work for something other than drawing perverted pictures of me," Kisa said.

Yukina quickly took hold of Kisa's own erection and started pumping, but he said, "You saw my drawings?"

"Yeah," Kisa said, moving up and down again. "You liked me with that ice pop, huh?"

"You were amazing."

Kisa smirked. "Did I look as good with the actual thing?" When Yukina just looked at him with bleary eyes, Kisa continued with, "You liked when I sucked you off? Mouth around your dick, shoving it down my throat?"

Yukina started shuddering, and Kisa quickly moved up and down in time with Yukina's pumps until they were both done, Yukina groaning out Kisa's name and Kisa just babbling incoherently as he released onto Yukina's chest. When it was over, all Yukina seemed capable of was lying there, breathing heavily. Kisa took the opportunity to clean them both up with some tissues beside the bed. Yukina just watched as Kisa carefully removed the condom from him, tied it off, and tossed it in the trash nearby. Kisa laid down on the bed and soon found himself wrapped up in Yukina's arms.

"I love you, Kisa-san," Yukina said, sounding satisfied.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Kisa asked, a slight hint of annoyance to his voice.

Yukina leaned over Kisa's side and kissed him on the cheekbone. "Because it's true. You're an amazing person."

"More like a bitter old man who hurts people he loves," Kisa muttered into a pillow. He suddenly found himself being flipped around and facing Yukina. "What?"

"You're capable of learning from your mistakes, Kisa-san," Yukina said. "It did hurt me when you did that and… it hurt you too, right?"

"Yeah." Kisa averted his eyes.

"And you love me, right?"

"Yeah." He got an annoyed look on his face when Yukina pulled his head up for a kiss, but the scowl quickly melted.

Eventually Yukina fell asleep, his arms still wrapped securely around Kisa. It was maybe seven pm, and Kisa was fighting between wanting to eat and just passing out. His mind was drifting, though, and that decided it for him. So, he settled against Yukina, toeing up the covers to pull them over them both. Sleep came quickly.