antiTHESIS

Wow, a chapter! I was writing this instead of studying for my exams - I hope my marks won't show it. XD

But this chappie isn't too long either. D:

Anyway, do read on.

(I'm going to thank the awesomely brilliant Rain-chan who betas amazingly fast. XD)

edit: Thank you Cei-chan, once again, for catching my idiotic mistakes. XD

x frivolity and frailty being one and the same

'Oh, the nice man is on TV again.'

The comment itself was very strange - Ryoma wasn't one to initiate conversations. Thus, Nanjiroh immediately turned to the television, where one grey-haired man was talking in a fluid manner.

'We, at Hyoutei, take honesty very seriously.' The man's hands were clenched into tight fists, but that was the only sign of any anxiety that the man had. His face was calm with a charismatic smile, and his eyes were crinkled, giving him the aura of a genial middle-aged man. 'The accusations that have been made are false, and it pains me to even say so - it is an embarrassment for me to even admit that such untruthful words have been said about my company.'

'Though the lies of others have tarnished our image in some of your eyes - I would be disappointed in Hyoutei Corporation as well if the comments were true - but as they are not, I know that our company shall jump back to its former untainted position.'

'I swear that on my family name of Atobe.'

As the news program featuring Hyoutei ended, Nanjiroh turned the television of with a click of the remote.

'What do you mean, again?' Nanjiroh's voice was low, dangerous. And then cheerful again. 'Oh yes, you saw him on the news before, right?'

'That's not what I meant,' Ryoma grumbled, turning his attention elsewhere - elsewhere being the book in his hand.

But his father interrupted. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh, he came by to our house once...' and then Ryoma remembered that the man had asked him to keep his visit a secret. 'Oops.'

'You've met him?' Nanjiroh shouted, face pale. Ryoma's eyes widened at his father's reaction, and he could only muster up a nod in reply.

'Don't ever open up the door for him, okay?' Nanjiroh said seriously, placing his hands on his son's shoulders. Ryoma nodded again, and as he bobbed his head, the string around his neck moved with it, a noose just waiting to be tightened.

xsx

The silence in the car was deafening.

Though it wasn't completely silent, it might as well have been. The only sound that could be heard in the car was the steady hum of the motor - and it was getting quite repetitive. Ryoma didn't even dare turn on the radio, in case it bothered Tezuka, who was driving.

There were only the two of them in the car. As Fuji had said there was something 'sensitive' he needed to discuss with Oishi - and Ryoma had no doubt that this 'sensitive' something had something to do with a secretary and his gender, Ryoma was ushered away so that he wouldn't be able to listen in. Eiji, of course, refused to leave if Fuji didn't, and Momo and Kaidoh were still looking for Inui - so it was just Ryoma and Tezuka in the car, with Tezuka driving silently and Ryoma in the seat next to him.

Tezuka's eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the road, serious hazel eyes that didn't notice the other cars passing them at speeds fifty kilometres faster than he was driving. Ryoma had a feeling that Tezuka didn't even notice the honking from the cars behind them, all of which had drivers that were a bit annoyed at driving behind a person who drove thirty under speed limit.

'So, um...Tezuka,' Ryoma started. 'Thank you for saving me.'

No answer.

'I think I'd have been caught again otherwise.'

A monosyllabic 'aa'.

'...So yeah, thank you.'

Silence again.

Starting to fidget with the hem of his hospital gown, Ryoma mumbled, 'I was planning on telling you all that I was a guy eventually - I wasn't trying to hide it intentionally. It's just that you all assumed, and then...' Ryoma stopped, realising he was rambling.

Still no answer - and now Ryoma was just irritated.

'I'm trying to apologise,' Ryoma growled, surprised at how angry he sounded. 'You could at least pretend-'

Ryoma's complaint was cut short when the car came to a heart-stopping halt.

'What the hell?' Ryoma managed to mutter after regaining his breath.

'Red light,' Tezuka said calmly. Ryoma stared. And then the car accelerated from zero to eighty kilometres in two seconds.

'What the hell are you doing?' Ryoma half-screamed.

Tezuka turned to look at Ryoma, obviously intending to reply.

'Keep your eyes on the road!'

Tezuka obliged, turning back to the road. Ryoma almost breathed out a sigh of relief, but then Tezuka suddenly braked, making Ryoma lurch forward. And then Tezuka continued driving at around fifty kilometres an hour, seeming oblivious to the honking.

'I was over the speed limit,' he explained calmly.

Ryoma, at that moment, decided that Seishun had to be some sort of secret assassination agency that killed people with bad driving. Eiji and Tezuka couldn't have been in the same company by coincidence.

'What were you saying?' Tezuka asked politely, but Ryoma just shook his head.

'Please. Just drive.'

The car ride fell back into a deafening silence, but this time, Ryoma found it more than welcome.

xhx

'Geez, Yuushi, can you stop pacing for just one second?'

Mukahi Gakuto was thoroughly, completely, and just very obviously annoyed with his partner-in-crime. 'You've been walking around for at least ten minutes...' And indeed Oshitari had. The cream-coloured carpet was clearly flattened where Oshitari had been walking back and forth.

His voice dropped to a lower tone, obviously meant to sound sultry. Oshitari would have smirked at Gakuto's attempts had his mind not been on other things. 'Wouldn't it be so much more fun to be sitting with me?' Gakuto had on a smirk that rivalled Atobe's as he lounged on the couch with both feet up, sly eyes staring up at his lover.

Oshitari, for once, paid him no heed, and continued to pace, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

'Yuuuuuushi,' Gakuto whined, but still, Oshitari continued to pace, his thoughts faraway from the present.

'Yuuuu-' Gakuto started, only to be interrupted abruptly.

'Gakuto. Shut up.' Oshitari was uncharacteristically brusque, his usually mellifluous voice discordant. 'Do you even understand what Atobe had been saying?'

Though Gakuto's eyes widened at Oshitari's tone of voice, after a moment, he simply shrugged. 'Yeah, we have to get rid of Shishido if Ohtori doesn't fix him up first,' Gakuto replied uncaringly. 'So what? As if Shishido could do anything that Ohtori didn't want him to. He'll be back tomorrow, and then we won't have to do anything at all.' Gakuto sounded entirely sure of his words, and Oshitari couldn't help but think that Gakuto had good reason to - Shishido followed Choutarou around like a lovelorn puppy - which perhaps, he was, if one took away the puppy part.

Oshitari stared back at Gakuto, and let himself smile. 'You're right.' He stopped pacing and sat down beside Gakuto, who immediately started talking about how he absolutely had to beat Kikumaru Eiji at the next street race they both participated in.

Letting Gakuto's mindless (and repetitive - Oshitari had heard the same conversation quite a few times already) chatter wash over him, Oshitari prayed that Choutarou would be able to bring Shishido back without fuss - Oshitari didn't like to have to do more work than necessary, as he got paid hourly and not by commission. (Good thing too - if he got paid by commission, Oshitari wouldn't be getting much money, what with the infrequency of his tasks - Atobe tended to call on him only when absolutely necessary.)

And a little part of him just felt that it wouldn't be right to kill a fellow employee.

xsx

'...And yeah, that's how I kind of ended up here,' Ryoma finished lamely.

Perhaps it was just Ryoma's imagination, but Tezuka's face seemed even blanker than usual. He wasn't even frowning. The two of them were sitting in the library, Ryoma on a beanbag chair, Tezuka on a wooden one, with a round table separating them. On the table were an array of books, pushed either to Ryoma's left or Ryoma's right, forming two tall walls.

Tezuka didn't say anything in return, his hazel eyes simply staring back at Ryoma's golden ones. Ryoma felt like he was under interrogation - and when he thought about it a bit more, it really was interrogation. At least it was interrogation by Tezuka - there were many worse fates, one being interrogation by Fuji.

'I hadn't meant on keeping my gender a secret,' Ryoma added with a shrug. 'It just sort of happened - and it wasn't like there was really a good time to bring it up. It'd have been an awkward conversation if I just said, "Actually, I'm a guy."'

And then, to Ryoma's unreserved amazement, Tezuka let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like...

'Did you just laugh?' Ryoma asked, incredulous. 'Tezuka?' He had to stop himself from tagging on an honorific to Tezuka's name - Tezuka just seemed to exude an aura of authority that demanded respect. (Ryoma, though he would never admit it, had almost added a '-sensei' to 'Tezuka'.)

Tezuka stared back and replied, rather dry, 'I do have a sense of humour, Meino-san.'

That had to be one of the longest things Ryoma had ever heard Tezuka say - and one of the strangest too.

Following an awkward sort of pause, Ryoma asked, 'Can I still work here? Or am I fired?'

Tezuka looked suddenly grave. 'I will have to consult the rest of Seishun before deciding.'

'But what do you think?' Ryoma persisted. 'You're the president of this place.'

After a moment of silence, Tezuka finished, 'I think it would be best to keep you here. You know too much to be allowed to leave.'

Ryoma, for some reason, had the strangest twinge of disappointment upon hearing Tezuka's reasoning.

'I'm... just going to return to our quarters,' Ryoma said, standing up. Our quarters. He hadn't really comprehended that until now, but he really did live here. He pushed in his chair, and then stopped. 'Unless you need me for something?'

Subconsciously, Ryoma had given Tezuka a lifeline, though neither of them would realise it until later.

Tezuka, after another pause, replied, 'No thank you.'

'I'll... just be going then.' Ryoma headed for the door, leaving Tezuka by himself in the large library so full of books that it seemed a bit empty.

'Wait.'

Ryoma immediately halted, and turned back to Tezuka, who seemed just as surprised at his words as Ryoma.

'You don't have to leave. There is nothing to do for the afternoon, so you can stay and read.'

Read? Ryoma's lips immediately turned up in a smile. Uttering a quick 'thank you', he immediately headed back for the bookshelves, but stopped once again when he was halfway there, spotting Tezuka leaving the library.

'...You don't have to leave either,' Ryoma supplied, and Tezuka made the slightest nod, before sitting back down and flipping open a book.

If Ryoma had been closer, he could have seen the faintest smile on Tezuka's face.

xxx

'Well, well, well. What do we have here?'

A playfully light voice easily filled the library, which had previously been practically silent besides the occasional sound of a page being flipped.

However, the other two occupants did not notice, both too engrossed in the same activity.

'I think this is very suspicious,' the same voice added.

Still, no attention was garnered from the pair.

The sudden noise of a shutter closing, however, did the trick. Four eyes looked up, two gold, two hazel, to stare up at the face of a cheerful Fuji Syusuke.

'Wah?' Ryoma uttered incoherently.

'Feeling comfortable?' Fuji questioned. 'The two of you are sitting rather...'

Ryoma turned to face Tezuka, who had also turned at the same moment, and Ryoma noticed that the two of them were sitting rather closely together on the couch.

'The two of you make for quite the pretty picture,' Fuji informed them, full out grinning now. Both Tezuka and Ryoma stood up at the same time.

'Fuji.' Tezuka sounded stern, but Fuji simply smiled back at him.

'Three.'

Fuji's smile grew bigger.

'Two.'

'What are you saying, Fuji?' Tezuka sounded wary, and Ryoma thought, quite intelligently, that he had a good reason to be.

'One.'

'Fuji-'

'TEZUKA! RYOKO-CHAN! What are you two doing together in the library?' A Kikumaru Eiji with an inappropriately scandalous expression bounced into the library with vigour. 'And Fujiko too?!'

'No, no, I was just here for the pictures,' Fuji said smoothly, patting Eiji's head after the redhead had reached his side. 'I've only got one though...'

'Ooh, can I have it?' Ryoma watched in fascination as Eiji hung off Fuji like a touchy-feely cat. 'Pleeease, Fujiko? Make me a copy?'

'Fuji.' Tezuka sounded even sterner than before. 'Get rid of that photo.'

'But don't you want a copy?' Fuji asked innocently.

'No,' Tezuka replied frankly.

Ryoma's heart did a little double take.

'Really?' Fuji pouted. 'That's too bad.' And then he smiled again. 'I'll print them out for you, okay? But we should all get going.'

'Going where?' Ryoma asked, wary as well.

'Didn't Fujiko mention it?' Eiji asked, eyes wide. 'We've got Inui back! And he has some info on Rikkai, though he won't tell until Tezuka's there!'

'Shouldn't you have said that first instead of taking pictures?' Ryoma questioned, accusing.

Not answering Ryoma's question, Fuji answered, 'Let's get going, Ryoko-chan, we can't let Tezuka keep you all to himself.' And then Fuji rather elegantly swept Ryoma into his arms, bridal style. 'I've got a few things I haven't had a chance to ask you.'

Ryoma did not really understand why he had a feeling of imminent doom.

xrx

'Wait a second. I didn't come here for a job.'

Shishido and Yukimura sat at Yukimura's desk, the sunset behind Yukimura giving him a silhouetted glow. Though Yukimura looked as calm as always, Shishido was a bundle of nerves, fidgeting with his hands and shuffling his feet even whilst sitting, though, to be fair to Shishido, the chair that he was sitting in was a bit uncomfortable.

Yukimura simply smiled back. 'Do you think Hyoutei will be taking you back after you ran out on them? Or rather, do you think you'll want to work for Hyoutei after I'm done telling you about what Hyoutei has done?'

'We're just a normal company,' Shishido replied guardedly, his fingers fiddling with his tee shirt.

Yukimura laughed. 'You don't really believe that, do you?'

Shishido paused, and then replied silently with a shake of his head.

'Good,' Yukimura said firmly, placing his elbows on the desk with his hands interlocked. 'Rikkai can't hire somebody who had such ridiculous notions.'

Shishido thought over what Yukimura had said for a moment, and then asked, rather dumbly, 'What?'

'Surely you didn't think I would just tell you anything without something for my benefit,' Yukimura responded with a chuckle 'And I assure you, it shall be nothing too taxing. You will just have to stay here at Rikkai until somebody attempts to pick you up.'

'Huh?'

Yukimura chuckled again. 'You'll be told everything once your employment is over, and will be subsidised. If you're done talking, then I shall have Niou take care of you for now; he seems quite fond of you. Why don't you just head to your quarters then? Room at the end of the hallway - just keep walking until there is nowhere else to go!'

Shishido found himself being ushered out of Yukimura's office even more confused than he had been before.

'Oh. You're back?'

...That agonising drawl - who else could it belong to?

'Niou,' Shishido greeted stiffly. Niou nodded back.

'Seems I'm stuck with you for a few days 'til your knight in shining armour comes,' Niou replied nonchalantly.

'Don't speak about Choutarou like that,' Shishido immediately replied, though there was none of the anger in it that had been there before when he rebuked Niou about Choutarou.

Niou just shrugged in reply. 'Didn't Yukimura tell you where you were supposed to stay?'

Shishido blinked. 'Yeah, he did.'

'Then why are you standing in front of his office like an idiot?' Niou asked. He paused. 'Well, it's nothing unexpected, really.'

And now Niou was smirking. Shishido decided that Niou probably didn't even know how to smile.

'This way, you fucktard. What are you staring at me for?'

Niou definitely didn't know how to smile.

'I have to watch over you,' Niou informed Shishido, 'to make sure you don't do something stupid like kill yourself.'

'Why would I do that?' Shishido asked indignantly.

'Who knows?' Niou said uncaringly. 'Either way, I'm stuck with you until your - fine, until Chou-kun - wait, I can't say that either, can I? Well, I'm stuck with you until Ohtori comes and picks you up, or until your co-workers try to kill you.'

'Oh, okay...' Shishido mulled over Niou's words in his head. Particularly the last six words. 'Wait, what?'

Niou opened his mouth to speak, and then clamped it shut again.

'What do you mean?' Shishido pressed.

And there it was: the smirk.

'I can't tell you,' Niou drawled. 'Yukimura's orders. Nobody can say anything about Hyoutei or Rikkai or Seishun-'

'What does Seishun have to do with this? I thought they were a detective agency!'

Niou sighed, sounding just a little bit weary. 'It's going to be a long few days.'

xxx

(I was trying to establish -some- sort of relationship between Tezuka and Ryoma, but it doesn't seem to be working too well. XD)

I had fun writing Niou and Shishido though. XDDD

Drop a review and tell me what you think? -awinchan