Part Five

Dinner that night was quiet and rather strained. At the very end, Subaru said, "Thanks for giving me a blanket this morning, by the way. That was really considerate of you. I'm sorry for anyone else who's ever passed out on your floor."

Seishirou glanced at him. "To begin with, it's hardly my fault that you were doing some complicated magical spell in my living room that resulted in you passing out. Secondly, nobody ever said I was considerate."

He knew that Subaru was irritated. He didn't expect that Subaru would try to take revenge. The next morning, the teenager was as cheerful and polite as ever. He'd made breakfast again, and lunch. Seishirou had a lot of work to do, so he was fortunately eating in his office when he got to the tuna sandwich that Subaru had dumped white pepper on. A lot of white pepper. He threw the rest of his lunch away, went hungry, and couldn't taste anything for the rest of the day.

When he got home, he was greeted again by only a note. "People used to say I was considerate. Everybody makes mistakes."

****

Three days later . . .

"Subaru-kun . . ." Seishirou finally said after staring at the boy for a good five minutes while he was making dinner.

"Nani?" Subaru turned to him.

"Are you taller today?" Seishirou asked.

Subaru looked down, then compared himself to various objects in the kitchen. "A little, yes. Guess I'm finally hitting my growth spurt." He grinned. "I'll need some new clothes. Any suggestions?"

"I trust your judgment."

"Maybe I'll get Johnny to go shopping with me," Subaru said nonchalantly.

Seishirou paused. "Who's Johnny?"

"A friend of mine."

"Sounds like a Gaijin."

"He's from America."

"Even better."

"He's got good fashion sense, though. From what I've seen."

"Have you seen him a lot?"

Subaru turned to him. "Why do you care?"

"Just curious."

"Of course you are. Well, no, Seishirou-san, I haven't seen him a lot, but he's very nice. And much closer to my age . . . yeah, I'll get him to take me shopping."

"You do that, Subaru-kun," Seishirou said, trying to sound completely unconcerned and doing a fairly good job.

"And you're sure that you don't have any suggestions?"

"No."

"Would you like to come?" Subaru smiled innocently. "I think you and Johnny would get along really well."

"Really?"

"Hm . . . on second thought, no. Not at all. Maybe you and I can go shopping for a little while and then I can meet up with him. Tomorrow's Saturday, after all." Subaru smiled up at Seishirou. "How does that sound?"

"Absolutely delightful," Seishirou said. "Now I need to go, Subaru-kun."

"I made you a lunch."

"No thanks," Seishirou said, and left the apartment.

****

Subaru was careful to avoid the pet store, because he knew he would want to go in and hug all the puppies, and with Seishirou around, that would call up far too many memories. He could go by later with Johnny.

"Hey, a toy store!" Subaru astonished himself with his bravery and grabbed Seishirou's hand, twining his fingers with the older man's. He took a brief glance over his shoulder and smirked at the startled, but not altogether displeased, look on Seishirou's face. Johnny, you are a genius. He dragged Seishirou into the toy store. "Look at that," Subaru breathed, wandering over to a huge teddy bear that was taller than Seishirou. He let go of Seishirou's hand and pressed his face against the plush of the bear. This seemed to be a good idea, since it was all he could do to not start laughing. He remained snuggled up against the bear until Seishirou poked his head nearby.

"Ano, Subaru-kun, what are you doing?"

"It's so kawaiiiii," Subaru said, eyes wide. "So huggable and soft and . . . it's so cute!"

Seishirou blinked. "You like stuffed animals, don't you."

Subaru just grinned, hugging the bear tighter. "Come on, tell me this bear isn't cute."

"It's adorable." Just like you. "Why don't you buy it?"

Subaru made a face. "And make my grandmother yell at me about sensible spending again? No thanks."

Seishirou looked at Subaru.

He looked at the bear.

****

"He bought it for me! Oh God, I could've died laughing!" Subaru plunked down onto a bench next to Johnny. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's adorable, and I really like it. Then he even brought it home so I wouldn't have to lug it around!"

"Sounds like you're doing well," Johnny said. "Why are we going shopping?"

"All my pants are too short," Subaru said. "I've hit my growth spurt and I need new clothes. An entire new wardrobe. One that'll . . . impress Seishirou-san."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "I take it money is no object?"

"Nothing is too good for my Seishirou-san," Subaru said with a nod and a grin.

"That is so cute. I'm going to be ill. Let's go." Johnny stood and headed towards a store.

Subaru followed. "I held his hand, too. Aren't you proud of me?"

Johnny looked at him. "Good God, you're cute. No one's allowed to be that innocent. And you're not innocent. You just act it. And look it. Well, we'll take care of the last part."

"Naa, I had a question for you."

"What?"

"Hokuto said you were sort of an empath."

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

"Sort of like you could see people's pasts by touching them?"

"Not really their pasts. But their general state of being. And their intentions."

"She said you said she felt like candy canes and the ocean."

"Yeah, well, your sister was a weird chick."

"What do I feel like?"

Johnny blinked at him. He peeled off one of his gloves and took Subaru's hand. "Sandpaper and roses," he said, taking his hand away. "Weird. Kinda bitter under all that, aren't you."

Subaru shrugged. "Well within my rights. Can you do me a favor?"

"Maybe."

"If you come over to dinner, can you try to see if Seishirou-san cares about me?"

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "I'll think about it."

"Thanks."

****

Seishirou blinked. Then he blinked again. Then, convinced that he was seeing wrong, he kept blinking. Subaru was still wearing the same clothes.

"Your friend does have remarkable fashion sense," he finally said.

"Oh, yeah, Seishirou-san, this is Johnny. Johnny, Seishirou-san. He's just helping me carry my stuff in. I have a lot of it."

"What about your grandmother and sensible spending?"

"This is sensible. I have to have clothes."

Seishirou eyed the bags. "Expensive clothes."

"I have to look good, don't I? After all, nothing's too good for my Seishirou-san."

"I'm going to be sick," Johnny said, shaking his head.

Seishirou continued to watch Subaru as he put the bags down. This wasn't the same person who'd been gleeful over a huge teddy bear that morning. Not possible.

"Look, Johnny, it's my bear!" Subaru glomped onto the bear.

"You're very cute," Johnny said.

Seishirou glared at him. He's not cute. Well, he is cute, but you aren't allowed to tell him that.

Johnny gave Seishirou a sidelong glance and grinned. Then he walked over to Subaru and draped an arm around the Sumeragi's shoulders. "What's the bear's name?"

What is it with these people and naming their stuffed animals? Seishirou wondered irritably, trying to figure out if he could throw Johnny out of the apartment without Subaru getting irritated.

"I think his name is Mr. Snuggles," Subaru announced.

It was all Johnny could do not to laugh. "Mr. Snuggles."

"Hai!"

"You are quite possibly the most adorable person I've ever met," Johnny said, then suddenly turned and extended a gloveless hand to Seishirou. "Hi. I'm Johnny."

"Nice to meet you," Seishirou said, trying to be civil and shaking his hand.

Johnny held onto his straight face but jerked his hand away, then wiped it on his pants.

"I see you've heard about me," Seishirou said.

"Eh," Johnny said, and turned to Subaru. "Ice water and blood."

"Excuse me?" Seishirou said.

"And those damn flowers. They're all over frickin' Japan."

Subaru laughed. "That's . . . intriguing. Thanks, Johnny."

"You owe me one. A big one."

"Well, what about my question?"

"Oh, that question?" Johnny considered. "No real definite answer. Give me a while. My skin is crawling."

Seishirou was watching this exchange in confusion. "May I ask . . .?"

"You may not," Subaru said calmly.

Johnny snickered, then put his arm around Subaru's shoulders again. "So, you gonna have me over for dinner sometime?"

"Oh, sure," Subaru said. "That'll be fun. Whenever you want. Just give me a call."

"He has this number?" Seishirou asked, sounding displeased.

"Well, sure, how else is he supposed to call me?" Subaru asked, sounding confused.

And why are you letting him put his arm around you? Seishirou was seething. He's just doing it to make you jealous . . . no getting jealous.

Yeah, right, his inner voice responded.

"Anyway, I've gotta get going," Johnny said. "I'll be late for work."

"Where do you work?" Seishirou asked. "I could give you a ride."

"No, I'll take a taxi. Subaru-kun gave me money," Johnny said calmly.

You're not allowed to call him that, Seishirou wanted to snap. What am I saying, everybody calls him that. But not everybody puts an arm around him like that. This is so not fair.

It wasn't until Johnny was out the door that he realized Johnny had never answered his question.

He turned to watch Subaru as he unpacked his bags. He was wearing a baggy chenille sweater - somehow he managed to get away with chenille, and pull it off quite nicely - and tight leather pants. Really tight leather pants. And, of course, his boots. The pants were black and the sweater was charcoal gray.

You were allowed to be cute. Cute is fine. You are not allowed to be sexy. And especially not both at the same time. How do you do that? How did he dress you like that? Seishirou took great effort and made himself calm down.

"Do you want dinner, Subaru-kun?" he asked.

"Oh, sure, dinner would be great. I'll cook."

"Thank you," Seishirou said. That gives me time for a cold shower.

****

Subaru checked the clock nervously. God, he's going to be home any minute . . . He stubbed out his cigarette and use the lighter to light the two candles. "Okay," he said to himself. "I have the candles, the food, the nice china and silverware, his favorite CD on the stereo . . . one last touch." He ran into the bathroom to made sure his hair looked presentable, then got something from Seishirou's bedroom.

Where should I be when he gets home? he wondered near frantically. On the couch or in the kitchen?

Couch, he decided. That way he could get up and make an entrance, rather than just being there when Seishirou walked in. He drew the curtains, walked over to the sofa, and flopped down. God, I'm not going to live through this. His heart was throbbing almost painfully in his chest.

He heard the door open. "Tadaima, Subaru-kun," Seishirou called cheerfully. Then his footsteps halted as he took his surroundings into account.

I should have tried a romantic candlelit dinner myself, Seishirou thought. Then he wouldn't have.

"Subaru-kun?" he called out questioningly.

Subaru got off the sofa and smiled at Seishirou's widening eyes. "Okaeri, Seishirou-san."

Seishirou blinked at him, composing himself. "Isn't that my shirt?"

Subaru looked down at his outfit, pouting a little. "Don't you think it looks good?"

Yes, it looks good. It looks better on you than it does on me. Seishirou simply stared at him. Subaru was wearing black leather pants again, but it was a different pair; these laced up the sides. With that, he was wearing a tight, black, mock turtleneck. It was the same kind he'd always worn, but it looked different with the rest of the outfit. Over that he had carelessly - or at least it gave the impression of being careless - tossed on one of Seishirou's white, silk, button-down shirts. It was sliding off just a little, since it was about five sizes too big, to reveal one shoulder. Seishirou suddenly realized he had never answered Subaru's question and tried to kick his brain back into gear. "You look absolutely fine," he said, understating the case remarkably.

Subaru smiled angelically. "I cooked dinner."

"I can tell. What's the occasion?"

"Oh, none really. Just felt like surprising you." Subaru slowly - very slowly - tugged the shirt up so it was covering his shoulder again.

Subaru had definitely done some growing up in the past couple months.

Seishirou allowed Subaru to usher him into a chair and serve him dinner. All his favorite foods. And his favorite music on. This had been extremely well planned and well prepared. If it hadn't been for the giant bear, Seishirou would have said he'd walked into the wrong apartment. Still, it was amusing, in a flattering sort of way, that Subaru was spending this much time on trying to impress him.

What wasn't amusing was that it was working.

"It's in return for the bear," Subaru said suddenly, startling him.

"Dinner, you mean? Subaru-kun, there's no need to repay me for that."

"I know." Subaru smiled and leaned very close to whisper in Seishirou's ear, "I just wanted to."

He couldn't quite bring himself to lick Seishirou's ear, but that was probably all for the best. Seishirou jerked away from his closeness as it was.

"What's wrong, Seishirou-san?" Subaru asked innocently.

"Nothing," Seishirou answered sharply. He could feel Subaru's breath against his ear, and smell the lavender shampoo Subaru had been using, combined with the smell of his shirt. It smelled like his aftershave. The combined smell was nice, but it just made the two of them more linked together in Seishirou's mind.

"You don't like me being close to you," Subaru said simply.

No, he was wrong, and that was the problem. Seishirou did like Subaru being that close to him. He liked it too much.

"I assure you that's not the problem," he said, forcing a smile.

"It isn't?" Subaru scooted his chair a little closer and put his hand on Seishirou's arm. "Then you wouldn't mind this?"

Clever, Subaru-kun, Seishirou thought. His body tensed and he forced it to relax. "Of course not. Why would I? After all, it means nothing to me." You mean nothing to me, he told himself, and tried to believe it.

Subaru's eyes widened a little with surprise and pain.

Seishirou hoped he would take it as a cue to drop the whole issue.

Instead, Subaru leaned his head against Seishirou's shoulder. "But it means something to me," he murmured, closing his eyes. His hand wrapped around Seishirou's arm.

"You're making it difficult to eat," Seishirou said coldly.

Subaru looked up at him, eyes calm, but not calm enough to hide the fact that Seishirou had made his point. Then a delicate smile curved his lips. "I never claimed I would make anything easier, Seishirou-san." But he let go and went back to his own food.

As a romantic dinner, Seishirou reflected, this one had been very odd.

****

One month later . . .

Dinner had gone badly, so Subaru sat back a while to regroup. By the end of the month, his eyes were level with Seishirou's chin. He could tell it disconcerted the older man a little, though Seishirou would never admit it. It just meant he had to admit Subaru was no longer a child, in any way.

He had finally found The Princess Bride and had set everything up so he could watch it, then he'd gotten a job. He sighed, changed, and left. He could hardly put off his work just so he could fluster Seishirou.

And the job would have to be outside, and of course it was raining. Subaru went back to the apartment at eleven that night, soaked, cold, and sneezing. "Tadaima," he rasped, voice like sandpaper. He toed off his shoes and hung up his dripping coat.

"You look terrible," Seishirou said, concern in his voice.

Subaru tried to figure out if he was really worried or just pretending, but his head ached and he decided he didn't care. "Aa . . ." he said.

Seishirou got a towel and draped it over the Sumeragi. "Here."

"Arigatou," Subaru said. It hurt to talk. His throat was already sore.

"Why don't you change into some dry clothes and I'll make you some tea and soup," Seishirou suggested.

Subaru smiled. "Arigatou, Seishirou-san . . ." He got some clothes from the boxes that were still sitting at the foot of the sofa, and went into the bathroom to change. He came out dry, even if he still felt terrible.

Seishirou gave him the tea and soup, then put a hand on his forehead and informed him that he had a fever.

"Who's surprised," Subaru muttered. He ate about half the soup, then let Seishirou shepherd him into bed and tuck the blankets around his shoulders. "Funny thing, Seishirou-san . . . if I didn't know better, I would swear you were worried."

"It just wouldn't do if you died before we had the results of the bet, now would it?"

"You're a bastard, Seishirou-san," Subaru muttered, and fell asleep.

****

Subaru was jarred out of sleep by the ringing phone. He fumbled around sleepily for it, then remembered where he was and realized he would have to get out of bed to get it. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and wobbled his way over to the phone. He felt terrible, even worse than the night before. "Moshi moshi," he coughed into the phone.

"Subaru, you sound terrible." Johnny's voice, speaking English as usual.

"I know," Subaru said. His head ached and his throat felt like someone had taken a cheese grater and lemon juice to it. He was light-headed and a little dizzy. He slumped back onto the sofa. "I'm sick. Had to go out in the rain for about three hours yesterday."

"Oh," Johnny said. "I was wondering what had happened, since you were supposed to be here an hour ago."

Subaru's eyes flew open again and looked at the clock. It was two in the afternoon; he had agreed to go shopping again with Johnny at one. "I'm sorry!" he blurted out, horrified at himself.

"Why? You're sick, you don't have my number, I have no phone. Don't worry about it."

"On the upside, Seishirou-san seemed very concerned," Subaru said.

"It's the Florence Nightingale effect," Johnny told him. "Go back to bed, Subaru. You sound like you're about to die."

"But it's two in the afternoon . . ." Subaru protesting vaguely.

"Who cares? Sleep."

"You want to come over to dinner this weekend?" Subaru asked, trying to make up for standing Johnny up. "I haven't needled Seishirou-san in a while."

"Sure," Johnny said. "Sunday night okay?"

"I guess. Why Sunday?"

"It's the night we do the least business. Mika - she runs this place - would kill me if I skipped out Friday or Saturday night."

"Oh. All right. Ne, can I ask a question?"

"You can always ask."

"If you can feel things with your hands, how do you do your job?"

"With a great amount of difficulty."

"Seriously."

Johnny shrugged. "By popping a few downers first. That kills it pretty efficiently."

"Oh," Subaru said. "Well, I'll see you Sunday? I'll send a cab to pick you up. Sevenish."

"Okay," Johnny said. "See you then."

****

Seishirou came home to Subaru curled up on the couch with a mug of tea. "Have you been in bed all day?"

"I don't feel well," Subaru said indignantly.

"You must not. The Subaru I remember would never have spent a full day lounging around in bed, no matter how terrible he felt."

"The Subaru you remember doesn't exist anymore," Subaru said. "Just as the Seishirou I remember never existed in the first place. Guess we'll just have to reconcile the new Subaru with the new Seishirou." He smiled charmingly.

"The old Subaru was much easier to deal with," Seishirou told him.

"But you didn't care about the old Subaru. Therefore keeping him around is kind of pointless."

Seishirou couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret, almost as if he actually had killed the Sumeragi. Then he shook himself. What am I thinking?

Besides, the 'new Subaru' wasn't that different. A little more mouthy, sarcastic, bitter. Definitely more . . . interesting. Almost, Seishirou would have said, alluring. While it was true that the old Subaru had been far easier to deal with, Seishirou found himself liking the new Subaru better. He had more substance, if that was possible. The younger Subaru had been so completely willing to do whatever anyone told him, gullible, passive, weak. It was almost nice to have a Subaru who was still kind, still caring, but had a little more bite to him, for lack of a better term.

Far more entertaining.

Still, he could have done without Subaru's behavior. The Sumeragi alternated between trying to seduce him and trying to irritate the hell out of him.

The damnable thing was, he was good at it.

Especially the first part.

Seishirou had no idea where Subaru had learned it, but the combination of the clothes and the habit Subaru had gotten of hanging himself over Seishirou like cellophane sometimes drove him crazy.

It was an exercise in self-control.

Seishirou didn't appreciate it.

It was interesting to try to guess what Subaru had up his sleeve, to try to figure out what he'd do next. The problem was, Seishirou kept guessing wrong.

"Ah, but Subaru-kun," he said, grinning at the younger man, "what makes you think I like the new Subaru any better?"

Subaru shrugged. "The way you look at me."

"And how do I look at you?" Seishirou asked, amused.

Subaru just smiled. "Besides, you haven't killed me yet."

"That's because the bet isn't over, remember?"

"Of course, Seishirou-san."

****