Notes: Auuuggghhh… I'm so, so, so sorry I haven't updated this story since apparently November of 2008 and here it is – June of 2011. I'm a terrible person for that. After nearly 100 reviews on 5 chapters, and many, many favorites I should be more attentive. Every time I find the time to open this story I fall in love with it all over again.
I can't say when it will be finished, but I don't see myself giving up on it yet. To think, it's been in the works for over 5 years. That said – please enjoy and let me know what you think.
This Chapter: Kenshin helps Sano sleep, Hiru rats out his boss, and Aoshi arrives fashionably late to the party.
Chapter Six
You Rub My Back, I'll Rub Yours
"Katsu told me you had a tendency to stay up late."
Sanosuke's head bowed as a smile claimed his lip, "What else did he tell you?"
"That you tend not to eat enough and you're a workaholic that used to be a couch potato. Oh, and you're very loyal." Kenshin approached Sanosuke, who had been typing at his computer.
Sanosuke chuckled, "Threw loyal in there did he?"
"Seems like you're known for that trait." Kenshin's thin-fingered hands glided over Sanosuke's white shirt and began massaging the base of his neck. Sanosuke's shoulders drooped and he inhaled deeply before sighing in appreciation. For such elegant hands they were unbelievably strong.
"You're hired."
The movie ended hours ago and it was nearing three in the morning but Sanosuke had yet to turn in despite knowing the museum needed to open by noon. Kenshin's hands worked at the knots between Sanosuke's shoulder blades, rubbing in circles until he felt them come undone.
"So why don't you sleep?"
"Can't. I guess I'm an insomniac."
"No wonder you have those rings under your eyes. Ever try different techniques to sleep?"
"Kind of."
"Come on." Kenshin rubbed the side of Sanosuke's neck in a half scratch. He tugged him off the chair, barely allowing enough time for Sanosuke to save his word document, and led him to the bed.
"How's your ankle?"
"I don't even notice it anymore."
"Fast healer?"
"Sometimes."
Kenshin guided Sanosuke to settle on the bed, stomach down. He took up a position at the small of Sanosuke's back and began rubbing the muscles there. He felt them shift and tense and he reigned in his pressure.
"Sorry," Kenshin whispered, "guess I didn't realize how overworked you are."
Sanosuke breathed out a laugh, "Normally I can't stand any type of pressure there. You must have some kind of training."
"A little. My father is a professional masseuse and photographer."
"What a combination." Kenshin finally felt the bundle of muscles give way and relax. He increased pressure and worked at the deeper knots.
The relief sweeping through Sanosuke's lower back had years of stress washing away. Katsu had given him neck rubs, sure, but a back rub was what he really needed. It was a feeling he was afraid to let end and so hid the small amount of pain it caused him.
Kenshin continued up Sanosuke's back, finding he had to stop occasionally when the muscles he already tended to acted up. The lower back especially tightened whenever he hit a new grouping and he returned his attentions to prior areas and tamed them again.
"My father should see this mess. Aren't you in a lot of pain?"
"Every day."
"What do you do about it?"
"Ignore it. Usually work distracts me from it but some days it becomes too demanding to be ignored. On those days I toss back a few pain killers and survive."
"You realize a good portion of your back pain is due in part to your insomnia, right?"
"I never really thought about it like that."
Kenshin pressed his thumbs upward, between one shoulder blade and the spine, and rubbed. A few pops indicated bones realigned. Sanosuke sighed as though a great weight had been lifted from him and his eyes rolled up.
"I don't know what you just did, but do it again."
"I bet that relieved a lot of tension. You had something a bit out of place. Hang on, I'll try the other side." Kenshin moved to the other shoulder blade and repeated the motion. Another series of small pops and crunches rose and Sanosuke's entire back shifted as though his muscles had suddenly been given the slack they needed.
"At this rate I might not want to let you leave. You're spoiling me far more than I deserve."
"I hardly think that's the case. Can you turn over, please?" Sanosuke did as requested and his back praised him when it made contact with the blankets. Though he missed the touches on his back, the muscles still tingled with relief. Kenshin began massaging his upper abdomen, just below his breastbone. He worked downward from there until he reached his lower belly. There were especially tight muscles there and Kenshin had to concentrate his efforts for some time before finishing. His ministrations rose gooseflesh on Sanosuke's arms and he smiled to himself, moving to roll the thick muscles of Sanosuke's shoulders.
"It's like you know where to go next."
Kenshin laughed softly, "I just look and see where you seem to be tensest. I guess it's something I learned over the years."
"That's pretty amazing."
When Kenshin finished he brushed at wild bangs in a playful manner, a fond smile on his face, and asked, "Think you can fall asleep now?"
Sanosuke's eyes were heavily but they managed to creep open a little more, "After that I could sleep on frozen concrete."
"Good." Kenshin lifted his hands to Sanosuke's temples and began a small massage there. Sanosuke groaned softly and leaned into the touch. They had to have been on the bed for over an hour by now. He glanced at the clock, discovering he had been correct. It was after four.
Kenshin continued his ministrations until he'd lulled Sanosuke into a deep enough sleep he felt confident he could stop. He leaned in to examine Sanosuke's features, as they were finally relaxed and made him look much younger than before. Carefully, he ran his fingers through the thick brown hair, smiling to himself.
Sanosuke was far different than anyone he'd met before. A natural guardian, he was sure of it. The loyalty and dedication that made up his very personality was attractive enough without his handsome face.
Kenshin wondered how long it had taken Sanosuke to mature. He knew he couldn't possibly have been this way in his youth. There was too much spitfire still lingering in his eyes. Oh yes, there was a playful side hidden there. He'd already seen glimpses of it and he desired to see more.
"Maybe you're the one Aoshi keeps telling me I'd find." He ran his fingers along the side of Sanosuke's face, over the slight stubble of his jaw and down the length of his neck. The stillness of the early morning left at peace, and he wasn't as tired as he should have been. Regardless, he needed to turn in.
He settled beside Sanosuke and pulled the covers over their bodies and burrowed into a comfortable spot.
Leaning against Sanosuke, Kenshin breathed a content, happy sigh and calmed his mind. He slipped away without struggle.
IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI
"I never thought I'd have to say this." Katsu shook his head at the sight before him, "But you, Sanosuke Sagara, slept in." He watched Kenshin sit up. His red hair was tousled in an amusing fashion and his eyes still carried the burden of incoherency.
"Good morning, sunshine." Katsu smiled, "How did you do it?"
"Hm?" Kenshin yawned and stretched.
"Get him to sleep and stay asleep. How did you do it?"
"I just," Kenshin yawned again, "gave him a back rub."
"Are you serious? My god, he's still comatose! Usually I barely get a third word out and he's wide awake. Heaven to hell, don't move!" Katsu motioned with his palms out for Kenshin to remain in place, "Just stay there and let him sleep. I'll handle everything until he gets up. No worries, okay?"
Kenshin nodded dumbly and scratched his head. Katsu left and the door clicked quietly shut. Kenshin cast his eyes to Sanosuke, who was still sleeping peacefully in the same spot and position he'd fallen asleep in. Kenshin, as he had a history of doing, rolled and burrowed. His hair was always a mess when he woke up.
Sliding from the bed, Kenshin invited himself to the shower and cleaned up. When he was done he towel dried his hair and checked on Sanosuke to find he was still asleep. He smiled and went about dressing properly in a set of clothes provided for him. From the looks of them they belonged to Bobby. The young man was closest to his size so he figured that made sense.
It was nearing three in the afternoon by the time Sanosuke woke. His joints usually felt stiff after sleeping but for the first time in years he could honestly say he had no urge to get out of bed. He did roll onto his side, pulling the covers with him.
His mind snapped fully awake and he looked to his bedside clock.
"Don't look at that." A hand covered his eyes.
"Ugh, please tell me that clock is wrong."
"Alright. That clock is wrong. But just so you know, I was lying." The hand vanished and Sanosuke looked to Kenshin. All that fiery hair was untied and draped around Kenshin's shoulders like a cloak of silk.
"Katsu said he has everything under control and not to worry."
Sanosuke groaned, "That man." He curled under the covers, hiding from the world.
"You don't like his concern?"
"Not when it makes him work more. I'm not paying him to do my job, too."
"I bet you pay him more per hour in compensation for his tendencies."
Sanosuke folded the covers down and smiled at Kenshin, "You can read me like a book, can't you?"
"Good books are hard to ignore." Kenshin's comment made Sanosuke pause, but Kenshin was moving to the next subject before he had the chance to blush, "Aoshi should be arriving sometime today. I don't know when you close, but I thought it would be nice if we went somewhere to eat. He will try and escape as quickly as possible so we'll have to be firm in our insistence."
Sanosuke sat up with a stretch and a content sigh, "You asking me out?"
Kenshin laughed, "Maybe. Why, you into me?" He smoothed out the wrinkles in Sanosuke's shirt out of habit. The man had never changed into pajamas and was still wearing a white button-up shirt.
Sanosuke chuckled, "Maybe." Kenshin wouldn't deny he felt an attachment to Sanosuke, and he wasn't closed to the idea of a relationship. He held back on anything too direct, knowing they had met a matter of days ago, but inside him remained the sense that he'd known Sanosuke a long time.
"My god I haven't felt this good in years." Sitting up, Sanosuke stretched again. This time his back popped and he let the stretch go with a pleased sigh and pulled off his shirt. His pants left soon after as he made his way toward the bathroom, intent on a shower.
"Katsu feed you yet?" Sanosuke asked from the bathroom before he started the water.
"No, I haven't been awake for very long."
"Good – I'm sure he'll be more than happy to whip something up for breakfast."
IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI
"Good afternoon to all my lovely friends! How is everyone today? This is for you, fearless leader, I wrapped it myself." Hiru entered the kitchen and set a package in front of Sanosuke and his plate of food.
"Whaf's vhis fwor?" Sanosuke asked around a piece of toast as he lifted the gift and examined it. Kenshin boggled at the brilliant red wrapping paper around the rectangular package. It looked like it was wrapped by a professional. Not a corner was bent out of place and there wasn't a shred of tape to be seen.
"Oh come off it, Sagara! You know I don't forget birthdays!" The entire kitchen froze. Katsu, who was at the stove, ran his brain over what month, week, and day of the year it was. By this time, Sanosuke was glaring promises of death at Hiru.
"Oh my god!" Katsu's hands shot to his head in a manner that for anyone else would have been overdramatic, "It's your birthday, Sanosuke!"
Sanosuke rolled his eyes and swallowed his mouthful, "I was hoping to get away with it this year."
Katsu went barreling out of the kitchen, "I'm the worst best friend in the world!" Chou yelped as he dodged the frantic one-man stampede and entered the room in reverse, wondering what was wrong with the resident artist.
Hiru smirked and pressed his palms to the table, leaning most of his weight against the wooden frame, "As long as I work for you no one will be allowed to forget your birthday. How old are you now?"
"He's twenty-eight!" Chou pulled up a chair and invited himself to the breakfast laid out before him. He piled four pancakes onto his plate as well as a heaping helping of scrambled eggs and bacon. He poured syrup over the entire mess, much to Sanosuke's disgust.
"To think – you're almost thirty." Hiru's evil smirk only deepened.
"Don't remind me." Sanosuke bit into another slice of toast and went after some hash browns before Chou got a chance to devour them.
"Now, now, don't be like that. After all, I reserved a table at your favorite upscale restaurant."
Sanosuke took pause at that one and his eyes met Hiru's, "How did you reserve a table at East Castle? It's almost impossible."
"Oh, you know – I just used my natural charm and dashing good looks."
Chou snorted into his glass of milk, spraying the pale liquid over himself.
"Who did you threaten?" Sanosuke waved a fork at him. A smile blossomed on Kenshin's face at the idea of Hiru verbally eviscerating someone.
"No one! I swear!"
"Then how did you do it?"
"I told you – charm and good looks. Last week they hired some new guy and he's terrible at customer service and even worse at talking to attractive people. He's only 17 so I thought he'd be an easy target. To top it off he's blatantly gay so I had no trouble convincing him to slip our group onto their schedule for tonight. And to think all I had to do was-"
"Stop! Right there, Hiru. I don't want to know the rest."
"Fine." Hiru sighed and dropped into a chair.
"So where's Jake? I haven't seen him since Poker."
The smirk returned, "He's… recovering. He'll be back soon, though."
"Christ what did you do to the guy?"
"I merely tested the limits of his stamina, that's all." Hiru poured himself a glass of water, passing up the food.
"You're a sick man."
"Well that's nothing new." Hiru turned his green eyes on Kenshin, "And how are you today?"
"Good. Yourself?"
Hiru stretched and sighed, "Better than I've been in a long time."
Sanosuke interjected before Hiru could elaborate, "Hey, horn dog, what time did you make reservations for?"
"Ten tonight! I figured Jake will no doubt jump at the opportunity to be a designated driver so feel free to get as tanked as you want."
Chou began laughing, "Sanosuke tanked! That would be a sight! He 'asn't been tanked since that night in college with – ow! Son ov'a bitch!"
"You keep your mouth shut over there, broom-head."
The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it! That's probably Jake!" Hiru hopped up and happily headed to the front door. Jake had gone into town for some groceries, and possibly to clear his thoughts since he seemed somewhat at odds with himself when he left. Hiru thought it would be good to give him some alone time to think.
He unlocked and opened the door, about to speak, but his sweet demeanor swapped with defense and an instantly irate pair of green eyes. He stared at the person before him; he would give the man points for having beautiful eyes – though not as beautiful as his if he had anything to say about it – but the ominous presence was enough to rouse a cutting sneer.
No words passed between them for some time and Hiru was unsure if this man was to be his enemy or there was simply a negative clash of first impression between them. Instead of outright telling the male off, Hiru resorted to a roundabout method of being rude. The man's clothes were rather extravagant so he had no trouble creating a quip.
"The convention center is down the road a few blocks. Enjoy." Hiru was about to close the door, but the arm that came up to block the motion was strong. This instigated stare-war number two. This time Hiru's temper was building.
Behind the staring contest, Jake shut the door to his Jeep and made his way up the artsy path to the front door – the actual front door, not the guest door. He stopped when he saw the tall figure blocking the entrance. He leaned around and saw Hiru was glaring. It wasn't a pretty glare, either.
Jake switched to service mode and stepped between Hiru and the man, "Hello, sir, is there anything I can help you with?" Hiru made a move to push forward but Jake cut him off and pressed him away, "I'm terribly sorry about him – he wasn't well socialized as a child."
"The hell I wasn't!" Hiru became snappy, "And for the record he started it! How dare you barge onto this property and challenge me you rude, ridiculously pampered, slovenly overdressed, pretentious, arro… arrogant… ungodly attractive… tall-statured… captivating … human male specimen. Oh my, you're… you're that famous photographer, aren't you?"
The man looked down at Hiru with an emotionless face, "Aoshi Shinomori."
Jake swept his eyes over the man, "Huh, go figure."
"Never thought I'd meet Aoshi Shinomori. This is… this is like a privilege or something." Hiru gaped. Aoshi was clearly growing uncomfortable. He was about to speak but Hiru's face shifted back to his harsh glare.
"Nevertheless, your rudeness is unacceptable! What a pugnacious prick! I ought to have the decency to put you in your place, pretty boy!"
"Hiru!" Jake grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the museum, "I apologize, Mr. Shinomori. Please, come in. What can we do for you?"
"I'm here for Himura Kenshin. The directions I was provided were for this museum."
"Kenshin?" Jake blinked. Hiru shook himself loose and stormed away – back into the kitchen. Jake and Aoshi could hear him bellow from the other room.
"Some jackass is here for you, Kenshin!"
Jake laughed weakly, "I'll go take care of him." He excused himself with a bow and exited. Hiru was heard barking for people to stop touching him or he'd find unique ways to disembowel them.
Moments later, Aoshi's eyes brightened at the sight of Kenshin appearing.
"Aoshi." Kenshin's radiant smile was a much more heartwarming welcome than the one he'd received from the green-eyed fire-breathing dragon who had answered the door.
"Himura." For the first time, Aoshi let his resolve falter and met his model part way.
Aoshi's hands brushed Kenshin's hair from his face, "Management had everyone looking for you. They still don't know where you are."
"It's alright." Kenshin held onto Aoshi's wrists and leaned into the rare touch, "I've been enjoying the time away. In fact, I think this is exactly what I needed. How have you been?"
"Worried."
"Oh?"
"Don't play games. I'm not in the mood."
"Easy," Kenshin lowered Aoshi's hands, "but are you in the mood to meet someone?"
"I fear the possibilities after the first one."
"This one's different. He's an old friend of yours." Kenshin moved aside and Aoshi followed Kenshin's line of sight to the wide doorway of the entry room. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and several more for his memory to kick in; he knew who he was staring at.
"Sanosuke Sagara."
Sanosuke's broad smile was a flash from the past, "Long time no see, stone-face."
IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI
6.16.2011
11.18.2014 (Oh my GOD now it's been almost 10 years!)
Even though I'm excruciatingly slow at updating this story – I want you to know I DO read all of my reviews, even if you never hear a response from me (But I'm getting much better about replying!). When reviews arrive in my inbox I get excited – also a little guilty feeling due to my neglect – but mostly excited to hear what readers have to say.
Thank you to all of you who keep coming back. It means a lot to me.
Next chapter: Hiru and Jake talk. Sanosuke and Aoshi talk. Kenshin and Katsu talk. There's a lot of talking going around. Ah, well, they'll get it figured out.