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Satisfaction

Chapter 11

By Miki

Fuji Yumiko was indeed a creature of grace and beauty, Mizuki reflected.

Her skirt bunched around her hips as she sat, and the small crinkles in the material only served to increase Mizuki's resolution to find out what was underneath.

Yuuta, of course, would always be his favourite Fuji, but there was no harm in paying attention to his sister while he was here. Clearly Yuuta was never going to look quite as good in a skirt and blouse, so Mizuki was rather determined to savour the occasion while he could.
He was currently sitting next to Yuuta on the sofa, and Yumiko sat on the chair opposite them.

She'd fussed over Yuuta when they'd sat down, but now she seemed happy enough to sit opposite him. Mizuki couldn't help but notice that her position allowed her to study them both rather carefully, and he'd been preening himself appropriately. He wanted to give her the best possible impression of himself, after all.

Yuuta, in any case, was acting like a wet blanket, and frowning.

Mizuki didn't think it had anything to do with the subject matter of his current conversation. It was just that Yuuta was frowning most of the time he was awake.

"Purple really brings out your cheekbones," Yumiko smiled, and took a sip of her tea.

Yuuta sunk lower into the sofa. He had no idea how purple of all colours could bring out anyone's cheekbones, but Mizuki was wearing a lot of it, and so was Yumiko.

"Why thank you," Mizuki practically purred back, the curl of his lips enough to give Yuuta the creeps and make him inch just a little further from his manager. "I rather like this shirt, although it is last season…"

He rather loathed mentioning the fact that the shirt was last season, but he was sure Yumiko was the sort of woman who paid attention to that sort of thing, and he didn't want her to think he didn't know it already. Admitting he had given in to a petty whim to wear an out-of-date shirt was much less a sin than being ignorant…

Yumiko's eyes twinkled.

"Yuuta," she smiled, "isn't that shirt the same one you were wearing the last time you came home? Perhaps you could ask Mizuki to take you shopping."

"What? Why?" Yuuta asked quickly, grabbing the hem of his shirt just in case Mizuki suddenly decided to pull it off.

Yumiko laughed. "Well it seems such a shame. You have such a kind friend who, I'm sure, would be willing to impart his advice and expertise, and you're not taking advantage of it."

"Huh?"

Mizuki was positively beaming.

Yuuta thought he was going to be sick. Yumiko-nee-san was too much sometimes. She was buttering up Mizuki and he wasn't even noticing.

"What a good idea, Yuuta," Mizuki chuckled and twirled a strand of hair. "Since we have time tomorrow morning, why don't we go?"

"No!" Yuuta shook his head quickly. "I mean, I thought you wanted to get to know the… er… house!"

Mizuki blinked. "That's right; I haven't begun my investigation yet."

He was glad Yuuta had reminded him. He'd nearly forgotten all about it, such were Yumiko's charms.

Yuuta cringed.

"Yuuta, where's that notepad you had before? I'll dictate."

Yumiko could barely hide her amusement behind her teacup, her lips curled and her eyes closed. When Syuusuke had started complaining to her about Mizuki, she'd thought it amusing, but that was nothing compared to the real thing.

The real thing was curly-haired, wore purple and said "nfu."

Clearly though, Yuuta didn't appreciate his manager's more amusing characteristics, and Yumiko wondered if she should rescue him from the mess she'd put him in.

"Didn't I teach you to wipe your shoes at the door, Yuuta?"

Yumiko looked up at the familiar voice and was almost surprised to see her brother standing beside the sofa. He was giving Mizuki a positively terrifying look, although Mizuki didn't actually have the sense to be scared. Anyone else might have already started running for the hills by now. It was always useful to have a head start on Fuji Syuusuke.

"Aniki!" Yuuta looked up, tensing.

"No one likes dirt in the house…" Fuji frowned. "Especially not on the furniture."

Yuuta gulped. "Aniki…"

Mizuki forced a smile. "Fuji, how nice to see you again."

"The feeling's not mutual," Fuji returned, placing himself on the sofa next to Yuuta. One hand latched on to Yuuta's wrist as he smiled across at Mizuki.

"Aniki…" Yuuta questioned, looking down at the hand. A feeling of dread was stirring inside him.

"I never did think you had enough taste to appreciate the finer things in life," Mizuki declared. "I'm almost sorry to see I was right."

Yuuta felt another hand latching on to his other wrist, and he looked down again.

"Mi-Mizuki-san…"

"Yes, Yuuta-kun?" Mizuki purred, and Yuuta shrunk back into the sofa.

"Er… Well… I need to go to the bathroom so maybe you could… let go of me?"

Mizuki shook his head. He wasn't about to be out-gripped by Fuji. "I'll escort you there then."

Yuuta stared at him as though he'd lost his head, mouth agape. "I don't need to be escorted to my own bathroom, Mizuki-san," he managed to grit out.

"Exactly," Fuji smiled. "That's my job."

Yuuta spluttered, his face turning a bright shade of read. "Aniki!"

"Yes, Yuuta?" Fuji smiled.

Yuuta scowled, unhappily trying to stand up. His brother was so infuriating! He said the most perverted things with that stupid smile on his face! And he didn't even care who else heard it! Fighting against Mizuki's and Fuji's grips was impossible though, and Yuuta dropped back onto the sofa, huffing.

"Yuuta's right," Mizuki said suddenly, changing his mind. "Yuuta's not a child and he doesn't need you to hold his hand."

Fuji refrained from pointing out that Mizuki clearly didn't know his anatomy. He was holding Yuuta's wrist.

"But I can hold other things," he smiled.

It took a moment for his words to sink in to Yuuta's head.

"Baka Aniki! What are you talking about?"

Mizuki looked disgusted. "I'd have thought toilet humour was beneath you."

"Oh, I wasn't joking." Fuji tightened his grip on Yuuta and smiled.

"I was being perfectly serious."

(S)

"Good morning Yuuta," Yumiko smiled.

Yuuta grunted in response and dropped into his chair, slumped inelegantly with his legs spread.

"Did you sleep well?"

Yuuta looked across at his brother and yawned.

"I think that's a no," Yumiko smiled, sipping her coffee and watching her two brothers with amusement.

"I wouldn't sleep well with Mizuki either," Fuji smiled.

Yumiko raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have thought you'd have slept with Mizuki at all."

Fuji smiled and said nothing.

"Is he still asleep?" Yumiko asked.

Yuuta nodded and closed his eyes.

Yumiko took another sip of her coffee, thinking things over.

It was quiet outside, reminding her how early it actually was. Yuuta and Syuusuke had always been early risers when they were younger, and she wondered whether they'd both kept it up out of habit or necessity.

With Yuuta, she suspected, it was the latter. Mizuki didn't look like a very forgiving manager.

"Yuuta?"

"He's asleep," Fuji answered.

Yumiko looked across and sighed.

(S)

Lunch wasn't such a quiet affair.

Five minutes in to the meal, Mizuki dropped his spoon and looked thoroughly embarrassed enough to duck under the table to retrieve it. He was lucky enough to catch a glimpse up Yumiko's skirt as he did so. But he was also unlucky enough that Fuji's foot landed squarely on his face, putting a rather violent kink in his neck.

Sitting back up again, Mizuki glared across at Fuji.

Fuji only smiled back. "Is there something wrong with your neck, Mizuki? You look as though you're in pain."

Mizuki grit his teeth.

"You know, I'm good at giving massages, if you'd like one after lunch," Fuji offered.

Yuuta suddenly had visions of his brother snapping Mizuki's neck right off.

"I don't… I don't think that sounds like a good idea," he mumbled out, taking a hurried sip of his tea.

"Why would you say that?" his mother asked, looking at him curiously.

"Oh, well… I don't think we have time for that."

"You usually stay until the afternoon though, Yuuta," Yoshiko frowned, looking worried. "You're not falling behind in your school work, are you?"

"Mizuki looks after him, I'm sure," Yumiko smiled, and Yuuta caught the look that passed between his sister and brother.

He scowled at them both, wishing they were anywhere but at home at the table with his mother.

"Jealous, Yuuta?" Fuji asked quietly.

"No."

"Are you sure? If you wanted me to do you, then you could have just asked."

"Aniki!" Yuuta snapped, earning him a raised eyebrow from his mother and a snigger from Yumiko. He kicked his brother's leg under the table.

"So, Mizuki-kun, do you have plans for this afternoon?" Yoshiko asked happily. "You know, this is the first time in a long while that Yuuta's brought a friend home, so it would be nice if you could stay with us for the rest of the day."

Yuuta frowned. There was a reason he didn't bring friends home from school.

Mizuki beamed. "Thank you, but I'm afraid Yuuta and I should probably return to school soon. We have a lot of training to catch up on."

Under the table, something hit Yuuta on the knee and he only just caught himself before he yelled.

Fuji smiled across at him. "Like I said before, you're welcome to a massage any time. I'll be happy to practise on you."

Yuuta kicked him again.

Baka Aniki. He definitely wasn't going to take his brother up on that offer.

(S)

Advice was a silly thing, Atobe thought.

He raised his hand and rang the doorbell of the Fuji household, glancing back at the limousine and wondering if it wasn't too late to back out of this. Advice was silly, because one could receive absolutely copious amounts of it without ever knowing whether it was useful or not until it was tested, and Atobe had never liked being a test subject.

He waited impatiently for a minute, watching the second hand ticking around on his watch.

There was no answer, so he rang the doorbell again.

People ought not to keep guests waiting like this. It was incredibly rude, really.

Annoyed, Atobe was about to ring the doorbell a third time when someone spoke his name behind him.

"Atobe!"

He whirled around quickly, surprised to see Yuuta standing there.

"Yuuta, what are you doing here?"

Yuuta gave a nervous smile. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

Atobe raised an eyebrow.

"Or… not…" Yuuta corrected, feeling odd. Sometimes Atobe had a way of commandeering the conversation, and it was then that Yuuta remembered that they had a weird kind of… friendship…

"I came all this way to see you," Atobe scolded. "Shouldn't you have something nice to say to me?"

"To see… me?" Yuuta blinked.

Atobe rolled his eyes in impatience. "Well of course. Who else would I come to see?"

"I don't…" Yuuta stared at Atobe, recalling the first time Atobe had "dropped by" their house. It felt like a long time ago now and Yuuta wondered why.

"Well nevermind that. Are you going to open the door or are you going to stand and stare at it all day?" Atobe drawled, raising an eyebrow.

Yuuta blinked, ducking his head quickly and shuffling past Atobe to unlock the door with his key. He didn't know why but his face felt really hot now. His stomach felt funny too, like he'd had too much sugar. He'd only snuck in a couple of lollies on the way back from the supermarket, so it couldn't have been that, but he felt so…

Oh, his chest felt tight.

Trying to ignore the weird sensations running through him, he opened the door and stepped into the entrance hall. Atobe stepped in after him, looking around as though he hadn't been here before.

"Yuuta!" came his brother's sing-songy voice and for a moment Yuuta felt panicked. He had a sudden urge to just shove Atobe into the nearest cupboard, behind the nearest door even. Anything just so that his brother didn't see him.

He had no idea where the idea came from, but as soon as the thought had occurred in his head, his brother walked around the corner and smiled at him.

"Did you get lost, Yuuta?"

"Of course not," Yuuta scowled back, putting on his house slippers and getting out a spare pair for Atobe.

The silence told Yuuta he didn't have to look up to know that Atobe and Aniki were probably staring each other down. And then Yuuta heard the familiar sound of Mizuki's footsteps coming around the corner, and he really, really didn't want to look up at all. If there had been a hole in the ground, he would have happily jumped down it.

"Atobe."

Mizuki sounded shocked.

"Mizuki."

Atobe sounded… well, shocked wasn't quite the right word.

"Yuuta."

"Y-Yes?" Yuuta raised his head hesitantly, looking up at his brother.

"You didn't happen to find Atobe in the markdowns aisle, did you?"

Yuuta wasn't sure how to respond for a moment; the sudden impulse to tell his brother off was just a passing thought, but it was there, and it surprised him. He closed his mouth and shook his head, standing up, painfully aware of the uncomfortable silence that had developed.

He was sure his cheeks were red. They felt so hot… He felt hot all over.

"I never realised you were the persistent sort," Mizuki observed dryly.

Yuuta recognised the annoyance in his tone – really, it was pretty hard to miss – and shuddered, wishing Yumiko would come and rescue him.

"Dirt sticks," Fuji added; whether directed at Mizuki or Atobe, Yuuta wasn't sure. "I suppose you were just in the neighbourhood then, Atobe?"

"Actually, I invited him."

Both Mizuki and Fuji stared at Yuuta; Fuji's eyes wide open in surprise.

Yuuta blinked, wondering why he'd just lied. "I… I was going to have lunch with Atobe anyway…" he blurted out, hardly controlling the words coming out of his mouth.

Atobe hardly blinked at the lie though, and smirked, walking past the trio to step into the house properly. "It's rather rude to keep your important guests waiting like that, don't you think, Fuji?"

Fuji smiled. "What important guests?"

Atobe twitched.

Yuuta followed the trio into the lounge room, cheeks still feeling hot. That stupid topsy-turvy feeling was still there in his chest, and he tugged at his shirt. Maybe he was just hot.

"I notice you're making a habit of that," Mizuki said offhandedly, silently agreeing with Atobe.

Fuji Syuusuke had some awful manners.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fuji smiled back. "We haven't had any important guests here lately; only unwanted, uninvited ones."

Mizuki twitched.

Between Mizuki and Atobe, there was as much twitching as for a field full of rabbits.

"Yuuta? Is that you?" Yumiko walked into the doorway of the lounge and blinked at the addition to the group. Yuuta dreaded to think what was going through her head at that moment, and quickly blurted out the same excuse he'd told to Mizuki and Fuji just a moment before.

Luckily Yumiko didn't seem quite so bothered and simply ducked back into the kitchen, emerging a few seconds later with a tray. "Atobe, you're just in time for tea."

Yuuta half-expected his brother to say something then, but instead he simply took Yuuta's hand and pulled him over to the sofa, pushing him down and sitting next to him.

"Won't this be fun, Yuuta? Who would have thought our entertainment would be delivered straight to our front door?"

Yuuta cringed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how he'd gotten himself into all of this. "Let go of my hand, Aniki."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Yuuta," Fuji smiled.

"I can't eat if you don't," Yuuta protested, trying to wriggle his hand out of his brother's.

His sister's blackberry pie sat in the centre of the tray; the only good part of sitting here with Aniki, Yumiko-nee-san, Atobe and Mizuki…

"Of course you can," Fuji responded. "You still have your left hand and I still have my right."

"But aniki…" Yuuta protested weakly. He wondered what Atobe was thinking. He didn't even want to know what Mizuki was thinking. Oh. This was so… Yuuta had no words for the embarrassment he felt.

And with that, Yuuta found himself having tea with Mizuki, Yumiko and Fuji for the second time in as many days. Only this time, it was Atobe who was sat down on his other side and Mizuki who sat next to Yumiko.

Somehow, that didn't make Yuuta feel any better.

.tbc.