Writer's Note: This is part of an arc; there are three parts to it. If you do decide to review, at least have the courtesy to sign in and allow me to answer any and all accusations.

Writer's Note 2: Sorry for the lateness of the post; this site wouldn't let me in last night, when it was supposed to be posted.

Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.

Shattered

Continuity: 088/100
Prompt: 066 – Rain
Summary: Oishi sees Oshitari at that coffee shop
Author's Notes: I don't remember what prompted this; I guess it made sense at the time.

Moving: Something Odd at a Coffee Shop

Syuichiro was glad to duck into the coffee shop, in spite of possibly running into Fuji. The photographer had taken to hanging out there; Eiji had mentioned that he'd even seen Fuji there the one time he'd been. But the rain was just too heavy to continue walking, and he determined he'd call Kippei as soon as he had a warm drink in his hands.

He turned to find a seat in the back of the small place, hot cup in hand, and stopped dead.

Oshitari had Fuji pinned in a booth. The smaller man was riveted on Oshitari's face, eyes open, listening to whatever the taller man was saying.

It was weird, though; Oshitari had an arm around Fuji's shoulders, but it did not look particularly comfortable, his left hand gripping Fuji's left wrist. Syuichiro couldn't see what Oshitari was going with Fuji's right, but obviously, his former teammate couldn't move.

After a moment, Oshitari got up, turned, and smiled, catching sight of him. "Oishi," he said. "Can I join you?"

Syuichiro snapped out of his daze and nodded. "Sure. That'd be nice." He gestured to an empty booth, and they sat down. He hadn't seen where Oshitari had gotten the drink in his hand; maybe it had been with him all along. "What were you doing with Fuji?" he asked.

Oshitari grinned, glancing behind him where the other man sat; Syuichiro couldn't see Fuji's face. "I told him if he ever touched Eiji again, I'd make sure he never took another photo," he said evenly, turning back to Syuichiro.

Syuichiro hesitated. "Touched Eiji?" he asked, almost afraid of what his best friend's boyfriend was going to tell him.

"I dropped Eiji off at his door last Thursday night, had the worst night of my life, and went over Friday morning. He was… well, he'd been hit in the face, and his wrists and ribs were bruised. He said Fuji had been waiting when he got in, they'd had an altercation, and then he'd kicked him out." There was a light in Oshitari's eyes that Syuichiro wasn't sure how to take. "Eiji's going to be furious when he finds out I talked to Fuji, so… don't tell him for a while, okay?"

"Is he going to move again?" Syuichiro asked after nodding his agreement.

"Yes."

"How far this time?"

Oshitari laughed, probably in reaction to his almost despairing tone. "Do you think I'll let him leave Tokyo?" he asked, then shook his head. "I would, if he really wanted to," he said softly. "He's moving in with me, at the end of the month."

Syuichiro couldn't have stopped the smile that spread across his face if he'd wanted to. "Good," he said firmly. "I'm glad to hear it."

He thought he understood what had attracted Eiji to Oshitari when the tensai smiled at him.

Continuity 089/100
Prompt: 043 - Square
Summary: Eiji moves in.
Author's Notes: I'd wanted Yuushi to read that letter - this seemed like a good opportunity.

Moving: Moving Day

Eiji was still… stunned over the whole turn of events.

He stared at the squares of boxes that filled his apartment - lots more than he's had last time he'd moved - and wondered at his own sanity.

"Doubts?" He wasn't expecting the voice in his ear any more than the arms that wrapped around him.

"Not so much doubts, as wondering if I've taken leave of my senses," Eiji said, leaning back into Yuushi. And just like that, those thoughts were gone. He didn't know if that made it worse.

Yuushi gently turned him around. "It's not too late to back out, if you want," he said softly.

Eiji looked up at him, eyes wide, trying to figure out if what he was saying was just… words, or if he meant them. There was nothing but sincerity in Yuushi's eyes - not that Eiji was sure he could tell, anyway. "I don't think I do," he said without looking away. "It's just… overwhelming, in a way. I have so much…." He drifted off, not sure himself what he meant to say.

Yuushi ran a hand through Eiji's hair with a smile. "Take it slow," he said quietly. "I don't want you there if you don't want to be there. I know it's a big step," he added. "It's normal to have doubts."

"I talked to Oishi and Kippei," Eiji said, leaning against Yuushi and laying his head on the taller man's shoulder. "It seemed like a natural thing for them."

"Neither of them was being stalked," Yuushi said firmly. "I was going to ask you soon, anyway; that incident with Fuji merely pushed up my timetable a little."

Eiji was startled, stepping back to look at him. "You were?"

"Yes."

"Oh." He hadn't even considered that. "Why?"

Yuushi laughed at him. "Because it was the next natural step," he said.

They were interrupted by the arrival of the movers, and Eiji stepped away from Yuushi to watch them. Not that he had anything breakable, but he was a little nervous about making sure everything got there.

It took a lot less time than he'd expected - but then, as Yuushi told him later, "You don't have that much stuff, Eiji. You could store most of it in one of the guest bedrooms and still have room for someone to stay there on a regular basis."

"Only most of it?" Eiji had asked.

"Well, I suppose all of it, but then what would you wear? On second thought," Yuushi had said before Eiji could answer, "maybe we'd better store all of it."

Eiji had blushed so deeply he didn't think he'd ever been so red, and Yuushi had laughed at him. His boyfriend seemed to enjoy doing that.

But there he was, standing in Yuushi's foyer, looking again at the squares of boxes that made up his life.

In the context of Yuushi's home, it was pitifully small.

"Not much to my life," he said softly.

"The important part is here," Oishi said, and tapped him on the forehead.

Eiji smiled. "Less than cheerful thought," he said, and then the smile fell. "Am I insane for doing this?"

"Absolutely," Oishi said. "I'm glad you are."

Oh. He blinked at his one-time double's partner. "What?"

"What Syuichiro is trying to tell you," Kippei said from behind Oishi, "is 'it's about time'."

Eiji rolled his eyes. "Oh."

"So, where do we put things?" Oishi asked, and Eiji smiled a little sheepishly.

"I don't know. This is my first time here."

"This way," Yuushi said as he breezed past, a couple of movers in his wake. Eiji grabbed a box as well, and followed him up the stairs and into a long, well-lit hallway. Behind him came Oishi and Kippei, also carrying boxes.

They were finished in a very short time. Yuushi ordered take-out while Eiji began to unpack; Oishi and Kippei helped where possible, saying nothing when it became clear that Eiji's clothes were to be unpacked in what was obviously Yuushi's bedroom. Although their smiles said enough.

Yuushi joined them a few moments later, opening a box labeled "desk drawers" and sifting through it. "I don't know…" he started, then stopped, and Eiji turned around.

"Oh," he said. "That's just… I don't know where to put that. We can just leave it in the box for now."

"Okay," Yuushi said distantly. Then, after a moment, he held up a piece of paper. "What's this?"

Eiji squinted at it, then leaned closer and recognized it as the letter he'd written just after he'd seen Fuji's special exhibit. "I thought I'd thrown that away," he said, reaching to take the paper from Yuushi. "I certainly wasn't going to give it to him."

Yuushi pulled the letter out of his reach. "Your sister mentioned something about an exhibit Fuji had; she hoped you hadn't gone."

"I went. I'm not sure why - except that Fuji's photographs had always been so good," Eiji said. His hand dropped back to his lap. "We were pretty sure he wouldn't be there - at least, Oishi and Kippei were," he added.

"He hadn't been when we went the year before," Oishi said from across the room. "We thought it'd be safe, a week after the official opening."

"We weren't expecting the Special Exhibit," Kippei said.

"Your sister mentioned something about that," Yuushi said, setting the paper down in the box again. "She was pretty upset about it."

"It was upsetting," Oishi said. "Eiji… didn't take it well."

"I don't think I saw half of it," Eiji said. "They… walked me out blindfolded."

Yuushi nodded slowly. "Well, then, I'm glad." He hesitated. "How long after that was the team reunion?" he asked.

Eiji grinned at him. "After we saw your match," he said. "The first time we met. That was less than a week after we went to the exhibit."

Comprehension dawned in his boyfriend's eyes. "No wonder you were… a shadow."

"Good term," Kippei said.

Eiji shrugged. "I thought the name was… appropriate."

"Shattered?" Yuushi asked. Eiji nodded. "I suppose that's one way to put it. So," he said, straightening, "I'll put this box in one of the guest rooms, and you can go through it later." He closed it up, lifted it, and walked out.

Eiji watched him go, then leaned back against the bed. "I think I'm glad I came," he said softly.

Oishi chuckled. "It's about time," he teased.

Continuity 090/100
Prompt: 093 - Thanksgiving
Summary: Oishi tells Eiji about Yuushi in the Coffee Shop. He's not happy.
Author's Notes: The prompt is rather... subtle, but I had fun with this one.

Moving: Reaction

Eiji didn't remember having been so furious in his life. He had been sure - certain! - that Yuushi would have left it alone. He'd seemed to be fine with Eiji's statement that once the bruises had faded (it had taken a couple of weeks, but the worst of them - his wrists - were gone by the time he moved in), the whole thing with Fuji would be over.

Apparently he'd been wrong.

He wasn't sure if Oishi had told him on purpose or if he'd let it slip accidentally - that he'd seen Yuushi at the coffee shop, with Fuji, and that Yuushi had told him he'd threatened the photographer - while they'd been on the phone that afternoon.

It was still strange to take a different bus - he'd missed it by accident earlier that week because his mind had been elsewhere - and have a shorter ride home. He loved it, though, loved that he had more time to spend with Yuushi….

Except that tonight he was furious.

He had to remember that.

But it was hard, as he walked up the front pathway to the door, fishing his keys out of his pocket only to remember that Yuushi rarely locked the front door as it opened under his touch.

Yuushi met him at the door, looking guilty. "Eiji…" he started. Oishi must have called him.

"I thought I'd made myself clear," Eiji said as he walked in, kicking his shoes off harder than he'd meant to. Well, maybe not.

"You did. I didn't mean to… demean what you'd said," Yuushi said, following him into the - their - front room. Even angry, Eiji liked the thought of that. "I just… wanted to make it clear how I felt."

"Why did I have to find out from Oishi?" he demanded, turning on his boyfriend. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Yuushi opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it again. "I… didn't think of that."

Eiji couldn't think of how to respond to that, so he didn't, pacing back and forth across the room. "I'd rather hear things like that from you," he said after a moment, but he no longer sounded as angry as he would have liked to. "I don't like hearing things second hand."

"I'll remember that. Eiji, I am sorry."

It was hard to accept; on the other hand, though, Fuji had never apologized for what he'd done.

And why was he comparing Yuushi to Fuji again?

He sighed, suddenly weary, and slid into Yuushi's welcoming arms. "I'll get better, I promise," he mumbled, and Yuushi chuckled.

"Better at what?" he asked before kissing the top of Eiji's head.

"What did you say?" Eiji asked after a while.

"What?"

"To Fuji?"

Yuushi took a deep breath. "I told him if he ever touched you again, I'd break every finger he had so he'd never take another picture. I told him how I'd been with Gakuto as they explained about how his ankle had broken, and I knew exactly how to make it painful - and hard to heal."

"Oh." Eiji looked up at him. "What did he say?"

"Nothing. I didn't give him a chance to, actually; I left when I was finished, and joined Oishi at another table. He was still there when I left, so I don't know how long he stayed."

Eiji braced his forehead on Yuushi's collarbone. "I wish you hadn't done that," he said, frustrated.

"I don't understand," Yuushi said, gently grasping his shoulders and pushing him away so he could catch Eiji's eyes. "Why is it so important to you?"

Eiji took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I wanted to finish it on my own," he said finally. "I realized a while ago that every major decision I have made - except one," he interrupted himself, "has been in reaction to Fuji, or in defiance of him. Everything since high school." He drew back, out of Yuushi's embrace, suddenly furious again, only this time it was aimed at himself. "Do you know how pathetic that is? The only thing I've done without him crossing my thoughts is fall in love with you. And even that hasn't been completely free of him! And I'm so… tired of it, tired of being that poor child that couldn't even stand up for himself all that time ago!"

He hadn't been able to look at his boyfriend, gesturing aimlessly as he ranted, so it came as a surprise when Yuushi took his arm. Yanking his arm out of Yuushi's grip, he pressed the taller man against the wall and kissed him, trying to drive all those thoughts out of his head.

Eiji figured that hadn't been the best way to thank Yuushi for all he'd done, sometime later in their bedroom upstairs - a trip he tried not to think about at this point - and curled next to his exhausted boyfriend. He was pretty exhausted himself; he'd been surprised Yuushi had let him do all those things to him.

"Would you like to hear my side of it?" Yuushi asked after a moment.

"All right," Eiji said without much thought. He owed Yuushi that much, anyway.

"I didn't recognize you at our exhibition match," Yuushi said. "It surprised me when Gakuto did, but he said later he'd always been able to pick out those he considered his rivals. It was a shock," he said after a pause. "I don't think I'd ever seen such dead eyes on someone so alive as I remembered you to be.

"After Gakuto broke his ankle, I stopped by Atobe's office to give him an update on his condition, saw your name and looked in on you."

"I remember that," Eiji murmured, fighting to stay awake. This was important.

"You didn't look any better, and maybe even a little worse. The only reason I even came back was the deer-in-a-headlight look you gave me just before I left."

"The what?"

Yuushi chuckled. "When you said I could call you Eiji. You gave me this look like you were surprised."

"You smiled," Eiji said quietly. "It was the most stunning thing I'd ever seen. I'd never seen you actually smile before, and it took me by surprise. In school you always smirked."

Yuushi kissed him. "It was that look that made me decide to go back to your office after New Years. It must have been the Christmas season - time with your family, maybe - but you looked a lot better. Your eyes weren't as dead, and I thought maybe it would be okay to ask you out."

"'m glad you did," Eiji murmured.

"Me, too." Yuushi ran his hand through Eiji's hair. "And it was a treat, to watch you turn back into the person I remembered. And to have you see the beauty of the stars was… almost more than I'd hoped. I'd almost given up finding someone…." He trailed off. "I don't think I've ever been so scared that morning I found you curled up in your bed. I was glad you'd hit him - probably not exactly the best thing to admit - but the bruises… Eiji, I got really scared because your eyes had started to dim and go dead again. And… maybe going after him wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I really can't stand being so… helpless." He kissed Eiji on the forehead. "I was afraid, I think." He paused. "I was afraid I'd lose you, somehow."

Eiji shifted, pressing closer. "Never happen," he said softly. "Not over Fuji."

Yuushi sighed contentedly. "I think," he said after a moment, his words slurred, "you should come home angry more often."

Eiji barely heard him, already almost asleep, but he still managed to agree.