Author's Note:

Shall I sit and give excuses for the long break between chapters? Nope! Just an 'I'm sorry' and... well... 'hope you enjoy'. Trying to wrap this up (a few more chapters yet to go though).

The cell phone in his hand felt light, strangely like a feather really. Maybe it was all in his head. Maybe he was imagining it should be heavier. Whatever it was, as Shuu stared down at the tiny phone in his hand, it felt almost weightless. Almost like it wasn't there. But it was there. It was really in his hand. And the number of Touma was sitting on the screen right before his eyes. All he needed to do was hit one little button and it'd send the call to his old friend. Just one button press and he would be a step closer to what he wanted back. However, if he pushed that button now, he'd be breaking his end of the bet. He'd be cheating, going back on his word, whatever you wanted to call it. There was no way he could let himself do something dishonest like that, so for now, all he did was stare at the number. It was weird, seeing a number he didn't recognize attached to one of the guys. It was slightly disturbing to think of how they were all just in new places now. For a moment he could only wonder about what they'd been doing these past years. Had they moved on, gotten married, had kids? Had they assimilated into normal society? Or had they been like him and, well, Seiji. Had they been unable to move on?

Maybe they had moved on. It was a very sobering and rather depressing thought. Shuu's mood was rather dark of late, ironic considering he had the former warrior of light supposedly trying to help him. But relations between the two could easily be described as rocky again right now, and their interactions ranged from terrible to a sort of shaky peace. At least there wasn't any violence right now. Shuu had finally gotten back to work, and Seiji permanently returned to his own home. They saw each other less, though the blond was still making the effort to contact him. The time of the bet was running out, after all. It was looking like Shuu would win by default. It wouldn't be a satisfying win for the warrior of stone at all. He wanted Seiji really on his side, but every day he met with the blond, it seemed more and more clear to him. The two, while trying to pull each other to their own side, were really pushing each other apart. It seemed every inch they moved forward would lead to something that would drag them a thousand steps back. It was, to be honest, getting very old to Shuu. He was glad it would soon be over. He'd be even more glad if somehow at the end of it all Seiji was on his side.

The back door to the restaurant opened, and Shuu looked over to it. He'd decided to take his lunch break outside. While it wasn't the nicest place to sit and eat, he'd needed something to lift his mood, at least a little. Sitting out under the sky, looking up and relaxing, hadn't quite done it but he'd tried. The waiter, some guy who Shuu'd never really chatted with much, looked over at him and started to motion him over.

"Hey, Lin said to come get you, there's a visitor here for you."

"Visitor?"

"Yeah, some blond guy."

Shuu scowled. A blond guy visiting him. The list of suspects was tiny. 'Why is he bothering me here at work?' For a moment Shuu considered just having the waiter go back in and send the message that his break was over, and he was busy. But if Lin, his superior of course, had said for him to go out... he didn't have too many excuses. Not unless he wanted to take it up with the head chef, and he knew well enough to leave his life's drama at the door when he came to work. 'What's with the guy? Coming here. He must be really getting desperate to win our bet if he's having to come here like this.' He made sure to wash his hands before heading out, and if nothing else, was grateful that in the restaurant, Seiji would be on especially good behavior. If he needed to get the blond to leave that way, he would. Even Shuu was getting sick of their more physical confrontations.

Walking into the restaurant, Shuu took his time heading out to the seating area. He stayed out of way of the other chefs and staff who weren't on break, not wanting to interrupt the service to the other customers there. Still, before heading straight over he scanned about, trying to see where Seiji was. The restaurant wasn't packed at the moment (Shuu would never take his lunch break over the rush), but there were still quite a few diners about. Even so, Seiji wasn't really someone hard to spot in a crowd. Seiji had a dish of food in front of him, so it seemed like he must have been there for a short while. It was strange to see him there, in a simple grey business suit. Come to think on it, he hadn't asked Seiji what his job actually was. He'd only known that the blond hadn't decided to simply stay at the dojo. Shuu stopped watching, and strode over.

"Shuu... hello..." Seiji gave him a smile, looking up from the table he was seated at. Lin had taken a seat as well, and from the look of things they'd been chatting. For some reason, that annoyed Shuu greatly. Pride would probably keep him from questioning Lin about it later. He could only hope she'd bring up the subject on her own.

"Hey Seiji..." he replied casually enough. He was in a bad mood, but it wasn't as though you could start to yell at someone just for saying 'hi'. He looked over at Lin for a moment, and he was pretty sure he was giving her a clear look of 'I don't want to talk to this guy'. "My break's over..." He left the statement open, wanting her to take the hint.

"It's alright, sit, chat. The big rush is over." She flashed Shuu a smile as she got up from her seat, turning to smile at Seiji and give a polite and friendly goodbye. Seiji returned it happily, and Shuu groaned inwardly. 'I guess I shouldn't have hoped she'd bail me out in the first place. Better fight my own battles.' He moved the chair Lin had just vacated a bit and took a seat on it. The two were silent for a moment, Shuu leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. Seiji looked as though he was trying to maintain a pleasant atmosphere between them.

"I'm sorry if my showing up here is bothering you," Seiji said, and Shuu gave a shrug of his shoulders.

"Why are you here? You know when my shift ends."

The blond gave a slight smile, and cast his gaze around the dining room. Shuu couldn't help but sort of follow it, not seeing anything particularly interesting. "I wanted to see more of your life. With my own eyes. I showed you some of mine... and it helped. So I thought it was well past the time I should have done something like this."

"Running out of time," Shuu said simply, doubting that anything Seiji saw here was going to tip him off on any quick ways to 'fix' Shuu. Seiji's smile seemed to quirk upward for a moment, but he nodded.

"You're right, I am. Still... it's nice to see more of where you're coming from."

Shuu relaxed just a little, nodding his head. He looked around on his own this time. "Disappointed you don't see anything wrong with the place?"

Seiji chuckled slightly. "In a way, yes. However... I'm glad to see you've found a nice place to work at."

"Yeah... it's not bad." He paused for a moment and couldn't help but sort of laugh at the situation. "Nothing I should be able to complain about, right?"

Seiji's smile turned into more of a smirk. "Well, everyone comes from someplace different." Again there was that hint of understanding between the two, but Shuu almost dreaded those moments. Because when they'd start to understand, they'd start to tug. But it didn't happen, Seiji just looked down to his food and took a few more bites, finishing off the meal. "I'd actually hoped I'd get to eat something you'd made here... without your knowing it. But... talking to Lin it seems like you'd been on your break already when I ordered."

Shuu gave him a lopsided look. "Why? I cooked for you before at my place."

Seiji nodded. "True... but you were cooking for me. I wanted to taste how your cooking was at work."

"I don't do anything different."

"I suppose not... but... I still would have liked to have tasted that for myself." The blond looked like he was going to say more, when he suddenly glanced down at the watch on his wrist. He clicked his tongue against his teeth, looking somewhat annoyed. Shuu assumed that meant Seiji needed to head back to work now. He watched the blond get up, watched as the blond surveyed the scene around them again. The former warrior of light let his vision linger on the kitchen for a moment, before he looked down at Shuu. There was something in his eye that made Shuu tense up a little. 'Here it comes.'

"You've got a nice place to work... but I can see one problem."

Should he rise to the bait? Seiji was waiting, and it seemed like the blond would probably just walk away without saying it if Shuu told him to. But... hell, why run away now? It's not like he was in a good mood today anyway. "What's the problem?"

Seiji's gaze never wavered, his tone matter of fact yet neutral. No judgments. "You're not needed here." Shuu frowned, wanting for a moment to press the blond for information. But, when Seiji's attention flicked back to his watch abruptly, Shuu knew it'd be wrong to delay the blond further. "I'll talk to you again later Shuu. Take care."

"You too man." He gave a small wave and watched Seiji go, only hesitating a moment before getting up himself and heading back to the kitchen. His break was over, after all. He'd ask Lin later if she wanted him to stick around a bit late to make up for his time out of the kitchen. For now he took up his spot at his station and got right back to work. He didn't want to dwell on Seiji's comment, but it kept sort of filtering back into his head. 'You're not needed here.' Shuu let out a tiny snort. Of course he wasn't needed here. There were plenty of other cooks here. He wasn't even the sous chef or head chef. He was a cog in the little cooking machine. He'd been out for a week and the restaurant had been just fine without him. There was nothing critical about working in this restaurant. Even if the place struggled (which of course Shuu didn't want to happen), well... in the grand scheme it wasn't anything to worry about. One restaurant going under versus something like Arago? Yeah... he wasn't needed here at the restaurant, and that was fine.

'I wonder why he'd mention that if he's trying to get me to stop thinking about the armors. Why would he point out how trivial this place is?' He kept up the contemplation, trying to guess at the blond's motives. Should he call him later and ask? Maybe. He didn't like thinking in circles like this... but maybe rather than just speculation, it wouldn't hurt to ask. Over the phone tonight. He didn't think he was up for an in person visit.

- - - - -

"Hello?"

"Hey Seiji." Shuu leaned back in his chair, trying to get comfortable after a long day at the restaurant. Thankfully, once he'd decided to just call Seiji his mind had been able to let the subject drop for a while, so his shift had been pretty easy to focus on. Now that he was home, and in his own space, he was ready to tackle this. "You got time to talk?"

"Ah... sure..." There was hesitation in Seiji's voice on the other end of the line, and Shuu could hear the other man moving about in his home.

"Hey, if you've got something going on..."

"No... it's alright. It's not until much later."

Shuu bristled internally. "What are you doing so late?"

On the other end of the phone, he heard Seiji actually laugh a bit. "I'm going out for some drinks with Takeshi... mother."

"I thought you were out of racing..."

"I am. Completely done. But Takeshi's still my friend."

Shuu didn't say anything about that at first, feeling somewhat betrayed but knowing that this time for certain there was no good cause for it. There was nothing wrong with Seiji still talking to some of those guys. It was just the racing that was the problem. "Ah yeah, gotcha." He thought he heard Seiji take a seat. The small noises of someone moving about stopped at any rate.

"So, what did you need?"

"What were you getting at today, at the restaurant, when you said I wasn't needed? I mean, I just want to know where you were going with it, that's all."

"Oh," Seiji's voice didn't seem upset by the question at all. In fact, he sounded extremely casual. "I just thought it was worth noting. We needed you back then. Each one of us was completely critical. But... looking at your work, it just struck me that you really aren't needed there. It seems like the entire staff works just fine without you. Though please don't misunderstand, I got the impression only a few people were critical there."

Shuu shook his head, even if the gesture couldn't be seen over the phone. "Nah, I gotcha... and I do agree. I'm not needed there like I was during our battle. I guess I just... wonder why you'd point it out. Isn't that working against your cause?"

"Hmm..." He listened to Seiji muse it over, waiting. "I suppose if you look at it one way, yes it is. Though in my mind... it's relevant to my efforts."

"How do you figure?"

There was a long pause before Seiji finally spoke again, so long that Shuu actually pulled the phone away from his ear to look and make sure they hadn't been disconnected. Shuu had the feeling Seiji was debating what he wanted to say here.

"I'd prefer if you answered that really."

"Huh?"

"Why would I possibly point that out to you?"

Shuu frowned. "You want me to pretend to be you?"

"Not so much pretend to be me but... look at it from my perspective. Or at least, look at it from one that isn't your own."

Shuu let out a small growl into the phone, scratching at his hair with his free hand. Ok, he wasn't in the mood for this. He just wanted a simple answer. "Just tell me man, ok?"

"Alright... though it'd be more effective if you thought about it on your own. I was just thinking, it was strange that you would take a job where you were so trivial. You're not the type to be so unnecessary. It made me wonder if you'd done it originally as a precaution... in case something happened. But after all this time... I wonder if you didn't get trapped in it. You want to feel needed again... but won't let yourself pursue that sort of life."

"Why wouldn't I, pretending you're right?"

"That seems obvious... because you're clinging to your old role, your old life... the armors."

"So what... like... sabotaging myself?"

"Something of the sort. That was what I was musing over, at any rate."

"Well... you're wrong. I'm not hiding from jobs where I'd be important, there's just no job as important as the one we all had."

"I never said hiding... ah..." Shuu could hear the sound of a doorbell in the background. "Takeshi's here early... should I..."

"Nah nah... go on. You cleared it up man, that's all I wanted. Have fun."

"Alright, goodnight Shuu."

"Night."

Flipping his phone shut, Shuu stared at the ceiling. Seiji sure was thinking up some useless stuff. What was he trying to say there... that Shuu's job was the problem? The root of his frustration? Not even close. Just being in a higher position wouldn't suddenly make him not want the armors back. The idea was crazy. It'd just make it tougher on him when he did get Kongo again. Ok ok, so maybe he was slightly right. Shuu didn't want to get too absorbed into a normal mundane job. He needed to stay ready to move. But that... wasn't... no, that wasn't something that was a big part of what he was feeling. Having a more critical job, or a more depended on role... that wasn't what would 'fix' this. Right? Yeah. That wasn't it. He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head a bit, feeling sort of confused.

It wasn't about being happy at a job. It was that the world needed him to keep the armor, to be ready to wear it at any time like he had before. 'But, I guess I need something to do... while waiting for an attack...' He paused, and shook that thought off. Nah, that wasn't the right way to think on it. If he started thinking about what to do in between attacks, then he'd just get sucked into the pace of the normal people around him. He had to stay apart. For just the slightest moment, Shuu felt a little silly. Was he putting his life on hold for nothing? Turning on his television set, he shoved those thoughts to the side. 'This is just Seiji getting in my head.'