Love Me or Leave Me
Semi-Charmed Life

"I figured I'd stop in on my way through," Momo laughed. "It's been awhile since I was back home and all." He looked around the shop. "Where's Taka?"

"Speaking with his father," Oishi replied as he got over the shock of seeing the younger man. He looked at his old friend, wondering if he should tell Momo about what had happened or not. It wasn't that he didn't trust the younger guy or anything. It was more that this was a personal matter for Taka. As a friend, Momo probably deserved to be told. But at the same time, it didn't feel quite right to Oishi to be telling everyone about the situation. There was a definite difference between keeping Eiji up to date and just blabbing to everyone who came by.

"Ah, some sushi chef lore or something," Momo grinned, taking the seat that had been Taka's until just a few moments ago.

"Or something," Oishi agreed, nodding once. "Can I get something for you to drink?" Because he might as well do his best to keep business going as usual, even if that basically meant filling drinks and running the register. Noticing an empty table, he glanced at Toho. "You want to get that?" He jerked his head towards the table.

"Sure thing, Oishi-san," the teen replied, not at all questioning the request. Even if the teenager had technical seniority over the man, there was no way he'd refuse. Oishi was simply older and obviously close friends with all of the Kawamuras, something that had basically elevated him to boss status in the teen's mind.

"Baba-chan, I think that table's ready to order," Oishi said, directing the other teen towards another table. The girl nodded and hurried over. "So, what brings you to Tokyo anyway?" Oishi asked as he handed his friend a glass.

"Koi wanted to visit her family and it just worked out that I had a few days free too," Momo replied. "How have things been around here?"

Oishi thought for a moment. "Crazy," he decided. "A lot has happened."

"I guessed as much." Momo looked around. "So, since when have you been working here? I thought you were in school."

"I am," Oishi affirmed. "Like I said, things have been crazy. I'm helping out here because, well, it's about the only way I can repay the Kawamuras."

"Oh?" Momo cocked his head to the side, curious for more.

Oishi nodded. "I told my parents about Eiji and I. They..." he hesitated, not liking to talk about the topic.

"Oishi-san, think it's okay to go in the kitchen?" Toho appeared, dirty dishes in hand.

"Just don't bother Taka and Masahiro-san," Oishi replied. "Leave them be and let Masahiro-san handle things."

"Gotcha boss," the kid nodded. Oishi had a feeling that if Toho could, the teen would have given him a salute.

"What's going on with Taka?" Momo asked after the teen disappeared.

Oishi sighed. It seemed like he'd have to tell Momo after all. "Jijo had to have an emergency procedure done a few days ago."

Momo frowned. "That's his wife, right?"

"Yeah. She went to school with us. The girl that Taka started dating almost immediately in high school," Oishi reminded his friend.

A look of recognition spread across Momo's face. "That's right," he nodded. "Is she okay?"

Oishi shook his head. "And neither's Taka. They were so excited too." Oishi looked at the counter. "They both really wanted that baby."

Momo swore. "Really?"

"She wasn't that far along," Oishi continued, "just few months but they were already planning everything."

"What happened? Do you know?"

"Just some complications," Oishi decided to tell his old friend. It was technically the truth. "But it was either terminate the pregnancy or Jijo and the fetus dying." Oishi internally cringed at the language he was using. It sounded so cold and professional but it was the best way to put it, to help distance himself from the situation.

The door to the shop opened again, this time revealing Eiji who bounded over to the counter. "Momo!" He cried excitedly when he noticed the guy.

"Hey," Momo waved. He wanted to smile and greet Eiji happily but it felt wrong with what he'd just been told. The somewhat somber mood of the shop suddenly made sense.

Eiji frowned, noticing the mood. "What's wrong?" He asked, curious. He glanced between his friend and boyfriend.

"I've been filling Momo in," Oishi replied.

"Ah," Eiji nodded. "But things worked out for us."

Momo frowned. "What?"

Oishi felt the urge to groan. "I hadn't told Momo about that," he added, giving an Eiji a look. "Only about what happened with Taka and Jijo."

"Oh." And then a moment later, "oh." Eiji's eyes widened as he realized what he'd basically given away.

"What does Eiji mean "things worked out for us"?" Momo repeated.

The Golden Pair exchanged a look. "You let it slip, so you tell him," Oishi decided. "I'm going to go check on things in the kitchen."

Eiji shot a dark look at the door that Oishi'd disappeared through. He turned towards his friend and sighed unhappily. "We kinda went through this phase where we broke up."

"What?" Momo sounded shocked, something that didn't really surprise Eiji.

"Yeah. We just got back together about a week and half ago," Eiji added. "We weren't apart for long, just a couple of weeks but still..." he shook his head. "If things hadn't fallen apart the way they did with Fujiko, I'm not sure where we'd be right now."

"What's Fuji got to do with anything?"

Eiji bit his lip, shaking his head. "It's really complicated," he said, a tone of finality in his voice. Eiji looked at the counter for a moment before looking back up, a smile on his face. "How's Koi-chan?"

"She's good," Momo answered after a moment when he got over the sudden change in tone and topic. "She's visiting her mother right now."

"I wanna see Koi-chan," Eiji pouted. "Tell her to visit me while you guys are in town, okay?"

Momo laughed. "I'll be sure let her know."

The door to the kitchen swung open and Taka's father appeared. "Hello," Eiji greeted, keeping things had as happy and normal as possible.

"See you guys," Eiji called out as he went to leave. He'd been at the sushi shop for far too long, partially because of Momo and partly because he just didn't want to go home and grade homework. He opened the door and stopped. He just stared at the other person.

A moment of silence passed between the two.

"I...hadn't expected to run into you," the other replied softly. Eiji nodded, letting his gaze focus on the woman across the street so he could avoid the other's gaze.

"I spend a lot of time here now," Eiji said just as quietly. A couple of businessmen gave Eiji and his companion a dark look, wanting the younger duo to move so they could enter. Eiji shot a look back into the shop before taking a deep breath. He finally met the other's eyes. "We need to talk."

A/N: No ownership, once again. So, I've been reading Suteishichic's "Learning to Fall" and wow...I have to wonder why I never read it before. I've known about it for years and it was one of those things that everyone always recommended to me but just, I never read it. I read just about everything else people recommended but never that. Maybe because I was all super into the rival teams back in my last run (and by rival teams, I totally mean Hyotei). People are always so surprised when I go on and on about Hyotei. For some reason, I seem to give off a Seigaku-loving vibe which is funny because I originally absolutely detested Ryoma and wasn't a big fan of Tezu-toast either. I don't really dislike any characters/teams now but Hyotei is always going to be number one and Rikkai second. Granted, the two teams having my favorite characters helps-heh, my favs are total opposites even (Choutarou and Kirihara).