The Uke Flu
Chapter Thirty-seven: Once More
It was dark in the Kamijou-Kusama household. In the pre-dawn blackness, the only light visible at all was a thin strip glowing warmly under the couple's bedroom door. From behind this wooden barrier rough pants and gasps could be heard. Then:
"Please, Hiro-san, one more time." Nowaki's voice was plaintive.
"No. I told you no more. I'm tired!" came Hiroki's crabby response.
"Please, just once more. I promise."
"That's what you said the last three times, dumb-ass. I don't believe you anymore."
"Hiro-san, please…" Nowaki's voice was beginning to sound desperate.
"I told you; those puppy-dog eyes aren't going to work on me, Nowaki," Hiroki growled. Undaunted by his partner's crossness, Nowaki cooed back.
"Hiro-saaaaan."
Hiroki consciously tried to sound much more tired than he really felt. "All my muscles are aching, I just can't do it."
"Pluuuueeeese?" Seeing if another tactic would be any more successful, Nowaki switched from a lovey-dovey tone to something that bordered on an uncharacteristic whine.
"You're supposed to be a doctor, not a beggar, Nowaki. Besides, aren't you worried about hurting the babies?"
"The babies told me they liked it: it's like being on a fun ride for them." Nowaki said this so seriously he almost believed his own fib.
Hiroki snorted. "Oh, yeah? Well, they told me all that up and down was making them feel ill. So I don't believe a word of it, you big goof."
Inside the bedroom, illuminated by a small bedside lamp, Nowaki was sitting up, his back propped against the headboard of the bed, several pillows tucked in behind him. He was naked except for a loose sheet draped across his lap.
Hiroki was similarly naked himself, though no sheet currently obscured him. He was lying on his back between Nowaki's long legs, using one of his lover's muscular thighs as a pillow. Nowaki was raking Hiroki's shaggy brown bangs up off the professor's forehead with gentle warm fingers.
"When did they tell you that?" He asked incredulously. Hiroki looked up at Nowaki with serious dark eyes, his bang-less brow furrowing slightly.
"Just now. From where I am sitting I have the perfect position for eavesdropping on them. And…" Hiroki tried to look imperious though it was difficult, lying on his back, gazing up at Nowaki from his upside down vantage point. "They had better get used to that now, because I'm not going to let them get away with anything."
Nowaki smiled down at Hiroki. Hiroki didn't smile back, but his eyes were now light. Seeing this, Nowaki thought he would try one more time.
"Please, Hiro-san. Just once more… make the face that Usami-san did when I told him I was the one who was pregnant."
"Nowaki, you know I'm not one for pulling faces." Hiroki sighed, knowing full well he was going to give in soon. "Plus, I've already done it a dozen times for you now."
"But it's just so funny, Hiro-san."
"Okay… but if our babies come out all jumbled because you belly laughed them to bits I'm holding you personally responsible." Hiroki awkwardly raised a lean arm and patted Nowaki's still tight belly with the back of his hand. "And I have witnesses."
Secretly, Hiroki was more than happy to make the face a thousand times if it would make Nowaki smile, telling Akihiko had not been easy… nor had it been particularly pretty.
After Nowaki had given Hiroki the vaccine and Hiroki had kissed him, the two men sat there for a moment, just silently regarding each other appreciatively. Something had happened between them there in Akihiko's apartment (of all places) and a new level of intimacy had been met in their relationship.
Nowaki shifted slightly then and Hiroki looked at him questioningly.
"Umm… Hiro-san, I think you might want to get off my lap. I am pretty sure Usami-san is done with Misaki-san now…"
"Oh, uh… Yeah… Right…." Hiroki realized what would happen if Akihiko emerged from the kitchen and caught him straddling Nowaki. He quickly slid off and sat back down on to the couch next to Nowaki. He'd been so caught up in the moment he'd forgotten for a second where they were.
"So, we should tell them, but how do you want to do this, Hiro-san?"
"Well, uh… maybe we could split up and you could tell Misaki-kun and I could tell Akihiko." Hiroki offered this nervously, wondering how Nowaki would respond. "After all, I'm not quite sure how Akihiko will handle the news."
"That makes sense, I guess, Hiro-san. He is your friend after all and that would give me a chance to talk to Misaki." Nowaki nodded thoughtfully.
"How I will handle what news, Old Man?" Akihiko stepped into the room from the kitchen carrying Aki. He looked as cool as ever but he was followed by a very flushed Misaki.
Akihiko could have gone on with his own "kitchen experiment" (the only cooking he'd ever excelled at) but when Hiroki had climbed on Nowaki's lap and kissed the doctor, it stirred Nowaki and Akihiko's seme senses had immediately picked up on the vibrations of another seme-erection in his territory. So naturally, he had come out to investigate.
He noticed immediately that as soon as he and Misaki had entered the room, Nowaki pulled a throw pillow over his lap. The author smirked at this poor attempt at camouflage. That Nowaki even tried to hide it made him shake his head in seme-disbelief.
Hiroki looked up, shocked to see Akihiko in front of him so suddenly.
"Well, uh… Akihiko." Hiroki rubbed the back of his neck. "Nowaki and I had something that we wanted to tell you… but we thought we might do it separately, you know… Maybe Nowaki could speak with Misaki-kun in the kitchen and you and I could talk out here."
"With all due respect, Hiroki…" Akihiko eyed the pillow in Nowaki's lap. "There is no way that your partner is going anywhere alone with my Misaki, until that python of his has recoiled itself."
Misaki looked at Akihiko in shock. "Usagi-san… what a thing to say to your guests… how rude! Nowaki-san, I am so sorry!"
"It's okay, Misaki-san, I know Usami-san is just looking out for you," Nowaki said peaceably. He understood completely. Even though he felt quite confident there was nothing between Hiro-san and the author now but friendship, he wouldn't have wanted Hiroki alone in the room with Usami if the other seme's kickstand was out.
Misaki frowned and looked at his partner. There was a time when he would have barked at Usagi-san and told him he was perfectly capable of looking out for himself, but that was before everything that had happened. Still, the implications of what Usagi-san said galled him.
"So…" Akihiko moved to shift the subject of conversation away from his deplorable manners. "What's the big news?" Hiroki looked at Nowaki, who nodded. Hiroki drew a deep breath unsure of how to start.
"Akihiko… Nowaki and I are having twins…"
"Twins?" Akihiko's pale eyes grew large. He looked at Hiroki with an expression of concern and then at Nowaki with one of admiration.
"Well, it's nice I didn't have to get that detail off the news, at least… Congratulations are doubly in order, it seems… No wonder you've been acting so squirrely, Hiroki." Akihiko looked down at Aki who was sitting quietly in his arms. The baby seemed a bit morose after being pulled from sleep before he was quite ready to wake up.
"Well, now, Aki, before long you will have a couple of Kamijou-Kusama's to boss around."
Aki frowned at his father and sighed as though this was too much to consider at the moment. He leaned back heavily against Akihiko's chest with a "thunk." Once again Hiroki was struck by the similarities between Aki and his older father: Akihiko had never been very personable upon first waking either.
"Yes, well… There's more…"
"Oh?"
Misaki sat down on the back of one of the sitting room's plush chairs while Akihiko remained standing. Hiroki looked back at Nowaki, who for the first time looked a bit nervous himself, but nodded again.
"Yes… Well, you see… Uh, I'm not the one who's pregnant."
Akihiko's handsome face suddenly looked confused. "Excuse me, Hiroki, but could you run that by me once more? I don't understand. Were you at the clinic meeting some surrogate then or something? I mean, how would that even work?" Akihiko looked at Misaki who shrugged and then the two looked back at the other couple seated on their couch.
"No, Usami-san," Nowaki interjected. "Hiro-san's not pregnant, I am."
"Hah, hah, very funny you two." Akihiko laughed.
Misaki however, looked from Hiroki to Nowaki; he saw nothing but truth in their uncomfortable gazes.
"Uwaaaah! Kusama-san, really?" Misaki's eyes lit up. The young man was ashamed to admit hearing it was not Kamijou-san that was pregnant filled him with relief. Akihiko's handsome brow furrowed as he looked at his partner's glowing grin. He looked back at Hiroki and snorted, clearly unamused.
"Come on, Old Man. Enough is enough… Don't take advantage of Misaki's simple nature. Your joke is hardly in good taste."
Misaki glowered at Akihiko. "Simple nature? What is that supposed to mean, Usagi-san?"
"Misaki..." Akihiko's tone was meant to be soothing but it ended up sounding patronizing instead.
Hiroki also was staring hard at his friend with a serious scowl on his face. "And what do you mean about good taste, Akihiko? Besides, it's not a joke, it's true."
Akihiko stepped over and handed Aki gently to Misaki. Misaki took his son, but not without giving his partner an unhappy frown. Akihiko crossed his arms and looked between Hiroki and Nowaki.
"I might expect something like this from you, with that pride of yours." Pale eyes flashed at the professor; they softened slightly shifting over to the doctor. "But, that you'd play along with something so ridiculous, Kusama-san. Really, I am surprised." When his words only hardened both men's expressions and they remained silent, Akihiko blinked with disbelief.
"Oh, come on, Hiroki! First of all, Kusama is a seme. Second, even if there was a chance he could get pregnant, that would mean that you'd have to have fucked him."
"Usagi-san!" Misaki shouted. Aki's expression grew quite cross at hearing his younger father raise his voice but he didn't cry.
"Just wait just a minute, Akihiko, you stereotyping prick!" Hiroki rose from the couch, infuriated by the implication of his friend's words.
"Hiro-san fucks me, Usami-san." Nowaki said quietly. His soft words stopped the three other men in their tracks. "And like everything else he does, he is amazing at it.
"His parents were very wise in choosing Hiro-san's name,* as I am very definitely pregnant... With twins.*"
Hiroki looked at Nowaki's sweet face and considered the way his partner had just openly humbled himself in front of Akihiko to defend him. He suddenly felt himself falling in love with Nowaki all over again.
The look on Akihiko's face when Nowaki said this was priceless, his jaw hung open, his eyes popped. It looked nothing like the cool polished Usami Akihiko that either man was used to seeing.
"Wait! Kusama, are you saying that Hiroki's the seme?" Once he regained his faculty for speech Akihiko asked this with a tone that bordered on panic.
"No, Dumb-ass!" Hiroki snapped. "Nowaki is the seme!"
"Well, then how in the hell?" The gleam of unease in Akihiko's eyes dimmed only slightly. Misaki got up off the chair and moved over to the couple on the couch. He turned then and faced Akihiko.
"For some people it's not always a one way street, Usagi-san!" Misaki's eyes flashed with emerald fire.
"Misaki!" Akihiko gaped; his eyes grew unusually wide. "Are you suggesting that we? That you..."
"No! Stupid Usagi..." Misaki rolled his eyes and sighed; he shook his head in disgust at his dumb bunny. He looked back at the men on the couch. "Kusama-san, Kamijou-san, congratulations!" Misaki's voice was sincere. "Please excuse our poor manners. You have to admit your announcement is a bit unusual but it is wonderful too."
"I knew there was a reason you didn't smoke, Kusama." Akihiko eyed Nowaki suspiciously.
"Actually, Usami-san, I don't smoke because I am a doctor and it's bad for your health," Nowaki offered this mildly. He had to acknowledge, that while confessing he was pregnant to Usami had been initially embarrassing, it had been worth it to watch the man be this uncomfortable.
"Wait…" Akihiko was still seriously struggling to process the news he'd been given. "Why isn't this on the news then? If semes can get pregnant… I mean, if there are other semes out there letting their ukes cavort with them in such distressing ways… Shouldn't the public be notified?" The author's tone was alarmed.
"I'm a semuke, Usami-san," Nowaki offered in an attempt to calm Usami's sudden distress. "Have you heard of that?"
"Of course I have… I am not plebeian. But such a being doesn't really exist!" Akihiko snorted.
"It does now, Akihiko," Hiroki said simply.
Akihiko looked between the two men sitting side by side before him and for perhaps the first time in his life, the great expounder found himself at a complete loss for words.
Hiroki and Nowaki had left not long after their disclosure, as once Akihiko regained his access to language, the man had little to say that wasn't obnoxious or demeaning or both.
Misaki, after agreeing to talk with Nowaki later in the week, apologized profusely and promised, in front of Akihiko, that Usagi-san would be eating green peppers every day for the next two weeks, at least, to atone for his rudeness. Aki seconded the notion, seeing how agitated his papa had made his daddy, declaring a resounding, "Agi bad!" as Hiroki and Nowaki were on their way out the door.
Afterwards, Hiroki accompanied Nowaki to the hospital where he left Nowaki to do his shifts. On their way Nowaki seemed subdued. Hiroki thought that their exchange with Akihiko had wounded his giant's pride, so he decided to try and remedy this by dropping a little of his own, and rather uncharacteristically attempting a little humor at Akihiko's expense. This seemed only fair to Hiroki as the authorial pervert had been having such fun at his expense for years with the damned BL novels he had put him and Nowaki into.
This was when Hiroki first attempted to mimic Akihiko's expression, knowing full well, as Miyagi had informed him just hours earlier, that he was a terrible impersonator. Not that this mattered, as for whatever reason, the face that he pulled struck Nowaki as so funny he almost fell over laughing. Nowaki had gotten Hiroki to make the face twice more before he left him.
When Nowaki returned home from his shift later, he found his Hiro-san still awake. Hiroki told him he couldn't sleep, leaving out the reason for this was that he'd set his alarms to wake him up twenty minutes before Nowaki was scheduled to arrive.
Nowaki was delighted to find Hiroki "up" in more ways than one. True to Dr. Suzuki's words, the flu had shifted that night, moving him from feeling ill again to feeling sexually inflamed. He and Hiro-san made love once and then just plain fucked twice. After these antics, changing the linens, and settling into each other, Nowaki asked his usually reserved professor to do his impression of Akihiko again.
Just like their sex life, it seemed, once of anything was never enough for Nowaki. So here Hiroki was, now for the dozenth time, about to make a stupid face to make his big brat happy… Something he would never do purposely for anyone else.
"Okay, but you have to set it up, Nowaki." Hiroki finally conceded.
"Of course, Hiro-san," Nowaki said happily. "So, Usami-san says 'you can't be pregnant Kusama-san, because you're a seme and otherwise that means Hiroki would have to fuck you.' And then I say, 'Hiro-san fucks me most excellently and I am pregnant with twins.' And then Usami-san's face goes..."
Hiroki looked up at Nowaki and, despite how stupid he felt; he pulled the ridiculous face (or his approximation of Akihiko's). Nowaki laughed until tears filled the corners of his eyes. Hiroki offered a half-smile in response. Though, if he'd permitted himself to, he would have grinned idiotically and roared twice as loud: feeling the vibration of Nowaki's heartfelt laughter beneath him had that effect. He patiently waited until Nowaki's chuckles finally subsided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.
"Nowaki, do you think Akihiko actually made that face at the idea you were really pregnant or at the thought I'd actually fucked you?"
Nowaki looked down lovingly, leaned over and kissed his professor's bare forehead. Then he bent down a bit further and kissed Hiroki on the mouth, upside down. Breaking the kiss, he murmured, "It doesn't really matter, Hiro-san, as your best friend is a complete ass." Hiroki surprised them both by barking out a sharp laugh at this unexpectedly candid comment. Then he resumed his normally serious face.
"This is true." Hiroki sighed, content in the moment.
"Hiro-san…" Nowaki traced Hiroki's eyebrows with one long finger.
"What?" Hiroki growled as he closed his eyes and let this soothing touch glide over him.
"Do it again. Just once more."
"No." Hiroki reached blindly to steal part of the sheet Nowaki was wearing: he was getting cold.
"Please…" Nowaki looked down, batting widened blue eyes.
Hiroki opened one eye and looked at his lover. He scolded half-heartedly, "You are such a giant child, Nowaki…"
"Yeah, but that's why you love me, Hiro-san." Nowaki reached for the rumpled blanket beside him and then cast it over his bare professor.
"Goof."
Hiroki sighed, pulling the cover up tighter around him. After a moment, once the warmth of the blanket had begun to seep into his skin, he opened his other eye as Nowaki continued to look at him beseechingly.
"Okay, Nowaki." Hiroki folded this time with little fuss: the peace of their bed made him feel generous. "Once more... But this is the last time, then we have to go to sleep,"
"I promise, Hiro-san," Nowaki agreed, wrapping his arms around Hiroki's blanketed form, adding another layer of heat. He pulled him up until their foreheads were all but touching.
If anyone was to of asked the two men in that moment exactly how they felt, both would have answered: "Like a family."
*So Hiroki's name means "Big Tree" or "Big Wood" or it can also be translated as "Abundance" or "Fertile." Appropriate Ay?
Getting back on track with a little fluff… hopefully the next update won't take so long.
Thank you, readers, new and old, for the continued alerts and favorites and as always whether you've been here from the start or are just joining, I'd love to hear from you!