Chapter Two

Oriya woke up an hour later when the sun had risen enough to reach his bed. He didn't believe in alarm clocks. He was startled to see Muraki asleep next to him. When he stirred, Muraki's eyes opened. "Morning," he said.

Oriya yawned and stretched. "What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.

"I was sleeping," Muraki replied. "You were the one who grabbed hold of me like I was an oversized teddy bear."

Oriya did his best to supress a blush. "That's what happens when you run off and fucking abandon me," he said, sitting up. He climbed out of bed, apparently unashamed of his nudity. He picked up his bathrobe and pulled it on. "I'm going to go shower," he announced abruptly.

"May I join you?" Muraki asked.

Oriya gave him a withering look. "Breakfast will be in an hour," he said, and stalked out of the room.

Muraki smiled and got out of bed. Oriya had neatly folded his clothes, but that didn't help the blood on his shirt or the large tear in it. Muraki sighed. He had no other clothes with him, so he rifled through Oriya's wardrobe until he found a grey yukata with a black obi. He slid it on and was pleased to note that it fit, although it was a little tight around the shoulders and a few inches too short.

It would do for the time being. He ran Oriya's brush through his hair and slid his glasses on. Now he was ready to face the day.

Oriya came back in, his hair dripping wet, wearing nothing but a towel. Muraki raised an eyebrow at him. Oriya just smirked at him and pointed to the door. "Out."

"Unfair," Muraki said, and didn't budge.

"Mm hmm." Oriya walked right up to him, leaned in, and planted the lightest of kisses on Muraki's lips. Then he dropped the towel. "You ever want to have sex with me again, you'll get out of my room right now."

Muraki put his hands on Oriya's waist and kissed his forehead. "Whatever you want," he said, and backed away.

"By the way, nice yukata," Oriya remarked. "You could have asked."

"I could have." Muraki left the room. He went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he could smell breakfast cooking. Although Oriya had brought him food the day before, he was ravenously hungry, presumably because of all the energy he'd expended to heal. "Good morning, Himiko-san," he said respectfully.

She glanced up and gave him a momentarily sharp look, then nodded. "Good morning, Muraki," she said. "I see you're finally up and about. That's good news."

He smiled at her. "Thank you."

Oriya appeared behind him. He had dressed and tied his hair back, after toweling it so it was only damp, rather than dripping. "Morning, Himiko," he said. "Is he begging for scraps again?"

Himiko snorted. "Breakfast won't be ready for another forty minutes. Go entertain yourselves elsewhere."

Oriya nodded and walked out of the room, obviously expecting Muraki to follow. After smiling at Himiko, he did so. "I met the newest addition to your staff this morning," he said mildly, as they settled on the back porch.

Oriya glanced over. "Suzumi's been here two years, Muraki."

"Not Suzumi." Muraki smiled. "Reiku. I'm a bit amused that you never told me you had a boy working here."

There was a pause. Then Oriya sighed. "Try to guess why."

"Be fair. He already offered to sleep with me."

Oriya nearly choked. Then he just sighed. "Sounds like something Reiku would do. He's had the place in an uproar ever since he started working here six months ago. I'm lucky he's exclusively interested in men, or he'd probably be trying to crawl into bed with all the geisha and Itsuko would have removed his dick by now."

Muraki smiled. "I liked him."

"Touch him, and I'll remove your dick."

"He said he was willing. You said I could never rape your geisha. You never said I couldn't sleep with them."

"Yeah, well, it's a new rule," Oriya snapped.

"Besides, if you remove my dick, you'll be sorry in the long run," Muraki said.

Oriya gave him a withering glare.

"Touchy, touchy," Muraki replied. "Did you know he's got Reikan ability? Makes me wonder how he puts up with being a whore."

Oriya didn't bother to correct Muraki for the term, knowing that his friend would only laugh. He also didn't inform Muraki of how Reiku dealt with it. It wasn't any of his business, and Oriya wasn't in the mood to explain.

"Fine," Muraki said, when it became clear that Oriya wasn't going to answer. "We can talk about something else."

"Thank you," Oriya replied.

~~~~

Bordering somewhere between furious and worried, Oriya found Reiku in the exercise room after dinner. It was a requisite for all the geisha, Reiku included, to maintain good physical shape. Oriya was teaching three of them -- Reiku, Yoshie, and Itsuko -- how to use a katana.

"All right, what the hell did you think you were doing?" he asked, annoyed.

Reiku didn't pause in his pushups. "Who did I do now?" he replied. It was one of his favorite questions.

Oriya ground his teeth. He liked Reiku, but he didn't like the fact that he worked there. Having another male in the mix threw off the delicate balance that kept Ko Kaku Rou running smoothly. All the girls thought of men as authority figures. They did not view Reiku as one of them. He had to share a room with Itsuko because she was the only one who agreed.

Unfortunately, Oriya had gotten so many discreet requests for someone of the male gender that he had no longer been able to ignore them. He was losing business by not having any male employees. Hiring Reiku had improved business over twenty percent. In fact, he suspected that Reiku might be getting a male roommate soon enough.

"No one yet," Oriya said, stressing the last word.

"You're annoyed about your boyfriend?" Reiku asked. He finished doing pushups and lay flat on his back on the floor. "It's not my fault. I figured that if half the fun is the fact that I'm not willing, he's a lot less likely to have sex with me if I said I was willing."

"Don't think you're so damned clever, Reiku," Oriya snapped. "You don't know Muraki. I don't care if you read him or not. You can't anticipate him and you can't control him. Got that?"

"Was I wrong?" Reiku asked seriously.

"You were and you weren't," Oriya said. "Yeah, half the fun is forcing you, so it won't be as much fun if you're willing, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun. And what you didn't think of is that now, because of what you said, fucking you isn't against my rules, and he'll do it just to piss me off, because he likes getting under my skin. So you've made it less fun and more fun at the same time. How clever do you feel now?"

Reiku shrugged. "Still pretty clever."

"Why?"

"Because look at me, Ori-nii. If he wants to have sex with me, he will. I can't stop him. And . . ." He looked up at Oriya, and for a few seconds, his dark blue eyes were haunted. "And it hurts less if you don't fight it."

Oriya said nothing.

"That's why you sleep with him, isn't it?"

"No!" Oriya felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. No, Reiku wasn't right. He was perceptive, that was true, but he couldn't be right about everything. Oriya knew he didn't sleep with Muraki because he was afraid the man would force him. "In case your damaged psyche can't comprehend this simple fact, I'll spell it out for you. I sleep with Muraki because I love him. Got that?"

"Mm hmm," Reiku said.

Oriya turned to walk out, then hesitated. "I'm not joking with you, Reiku. Don't think that you can control him. No one can. He doesn't just want to rape you. He wants to kill you. Don't forget that."

"You control him," Reiku replied.

"Not if you undermine my fucking authority by offering to sleep with him," Oriya snarled.

Reiku paused. "Okay. Fine. I made a mistake. Are you satisfied?"

"Yes," Oriya said. And he was. He turned and walked out. Himiko was in the kitchen, stirring something. Two members of the kitchen staff had arrived. Everyone had eaten dinner. The Ko Kaku Rou would be opening for business in twenty-five minutes. He hoped off-handedly that Reiku took a shower first. "Do you need any help, Himiko?"

"I'm fine, thank you," she said. "But Muraki was here a few seconds ago, asking for you. He said his room is locked and he'd like to get into it."

Oriya nodded and headed upstairs. It would be a quiet night, given that it was Tuesday. The restaurant would be empty by nine o'clock. Businessmen and politicians would head home to their wives and children, all their appetites fulfilled.

He kept Muraki's room locked when he wasn't there, because quite frankly he didn't know everything that Muraki kept there, and he didn't want the more enterprising geisha to decide to snoop around to find it. Reiku was bad enough, but Yoshie was nosy, and Suzumi would do a lot to prove she was right if someone doubted her word.

Oriya stood outside the door, fishing for the keys in the pocket of his kimono. Most kimonos didn't have pockets, but Oriya had a tendency to lose things, so he'd sewn them in himself. He felt Muraki standing behind him, though he hadn't heard him walk up, and was not startled when Muraki reached into his pocket for the keys. Muraki took care to brush his hand against some of Oriya's more sensitive areas before removing his hand. Oriya bit his lip. "You're such a jerk," he said.

"Mm hmm." Muraki pushed at the top of his kimono, sliding it off his shoulders slightly. "That was to get you back for what you did this morning." He pressed his lips against Oriya's skin lightly. Oriya felt his breath quicken.

"This . . . is not the time or place," he said. "We'll be opening in twenty minutes, and we're out in the hallway where anyone can see us, and . . ." He stopped talking because it was either that or let out the whimper he felt building. Muraki's hands were in his pockets again.

"I missed you, Oriya," Muraki said, sliding the kimono down further. His arms wrapped around Oriya's waist, holding him tightly. Oriya gave up on dignity and turned around, letting Muraki kiss him. He had to admit he liked the way Muraki looked in a yukata.

There was a strangled noise. Oriya pulled away quickly to see Suzumi staring at them. He felt a sudden migraine coming on.

"You lied!" she accused, glaring at him. "You said that you weren't lovers anymore!"

"I had a change of heart," Muraki said smoothly, unlocking his bedroom door. "Near death experiences can do that, you know." He pushed the door open and pushed Oriya inside without another word. "Have a nice evening," he said to Suzumi politely, then pulled the door shut.

"Not now," Oriya said flatly. "I have a business to run."

"The others can handle it." Muraki slowly advanced on him.

Oriya held his ground. "Kentarou isn't here tonight. He takes Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. I need to be downstairs when the customers start arriving, to see them to tables, and that's the end of the story."

"Mm hmm." Muraki got hold of his wrist too quickly for Oriya to counter it, and tugged him over quickly. He put his arm around Oriya's waist so he could have a firm hold and pulled him into a dizzying kiss.

Oriya closed his eyes. He was not afraid that Muraki would force him. He had to remember that he was not afraid that Muraki would force him. The simple fact, which he would never admit to anyone, was that he liked the way Muraki dominated him. He liked having control taken away from him.

Just not twenty minutes before his restaurant opened.

Still, he kissed back. He had missed Muraki, and after the week of being uncertain whether he was going to live or die, Oriya found himself severely lacking in willpower.

After a minute, he untangled himself from Muraki's grasp and backed away a step. "That was . . . nice," he said, his tone of voice a warning. "And now I'm going to go take care of business. And if you're very lucky, maybe tonight I'll give you a treat for being so patient."

Muraki laughed. "Go, run your restaurant."

Oriya's eyes narrowed. "I don't need your permission. I do what I please. This is my house and you stay here under my sufferance. You might do well to remember that."

"Would you kick me out?" Muraki asked curiously.

"I have before," Oriya reminded him.

Muraki fell silent, thinking of that memorable occasion when he had gotten just a bit too pushy for Oriya's taste. He'd found himself half-naked in the street, during a rainstorm. Oriya had not spoken to him for six months, had not let him stay at Ko Kaku Rou for another eight months after that, and then had not slept with him for another three. "Fine," he said shortly. "Do as you please."

"Thank you," Oriya snarled. "I will."

And Muraki knew, beyond a doubt, that Oriya would not be giving him a treat that night.

~~~~

As Oriya had expected, the restaurant closed early that night. The last patron left, satisfied, at five past nine in the evening. Asawe and Mitsu hadn't had any customers at all. Oriya didn't mind. The geisha got the same pay no matter how many customers they served. The pay wasn't much -- the drawing factor was mainly the room and board he supplied them with. Given that, most of them saved all the money they earned so they would one day be able to leave Ko Kaku Rou.

Oriya didn't mind that either, though it was always poignant when one of them did. He was termendously glad that Himiko had chosen to stay on as the cook and housekeeper. He would have missed her otherwise. Some of the others, he had been glad to see them go, as they went off to college and better lives. Others had never gone anywhere. They had just left.

He walked into the room where the geisha waited for customers. It was a snapshot of everyday life. Yoshie was making a joke, and Suzumi, Mitsu, and Namika were in the middle of laughing. Chisa had a soft little smile on her face, and she was holding hands with Asawe.

Oriya had never inquired too deeply into their relationship; they were roommates and that was all he felt he needed to know. He doubted they had sex; it meant so little to most of the geisha, and they were the two youngest. But he also didn't doubt that they slept in the same bed, because he never saw Himiko bring in more than one set of sheets. He accepted it; it was a good way for them to find comfort and perhaps some self-worth.

Itsuko had a dark bruise on one side of her face; Himiko was applying ice to it. Reiku, as usual, sat slightly apart, but he was also laughing at Yoshie's joke.

"Yo, Ori-nii," he said, when Oriya walked in. Mitsu and Namika seconded him. Suzumi gave Oriya a sullen glare, but the others greeted him cordially.

"Good work tonight," Oriya said. "Asawe, Mitsu, if you two could clean the rooms, since you didn't have any customers. Namika, please help Himiko finish up in the kitchen. Itsuko, are you hurt anywhere else?"

She shook her head.

"All right. The rest of you can go."

They departed for their rooms. Oriya went back to the cash register. He counted up all the money and deposited it in the safe as usual. He made a trip to the bank every Monday and Thursday mornings. Namika was surprisingly good with numbers, and helped him with the accounting.

"We're done," Mitsu said cheerfully, carrying a pail of water through so she could throw it down the drain. Oriya smiled at her. He liked Mitsu; she was unfailingly cheerful, despite her station in life. "Asawe went upstairs already. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you, Mitsu," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."

Mitsu nodded and smiled, heading up to the room she shared with Suzumi.

Oriya finished with the money and went up the stairs. His room was dark and empty, and the door to Muraki's room was closed.

~~~~

Muraki knew better than to push his luck. One of the things he loved about Oriya so dearly was that there was a line he could not cross, and Oriya could enforce his own rules. It was a refreshing change from most people he knew. Most people didn't dare kick him in the head or toss him out in the rain.

So Muraki did not venture into Oriya's room that night, and he was not surprised when Oriya did not approach him. He amused himself in other ways. When he woke up the next morning, Himiko had breakfast ready, and Oriya wasn't there.

"In town on business," Himiko told him. "I think he wanted to do the shopping, because he brought Mitsu and Reiku with him, to help him carry things. There's probably other things while he's there."

Muraki found it very interesting that Oriya had chosen to remove Reiku from the house while he was absent. He wondered if the grocery shopping was just a convenient excuse. However, there was really no way to ask. He thanked her and went out to the backyard.

Spring was just arriving, and he carefully stepped around the few piles of snow. He was wearing one of his suits, although without the jacket, and a heavy robe he had liberated from Oriya's closet.

"Isn't it pretty?" a timid voice asked.

Muraki turned slightly to see Asawe and Chisa regarding him seriously. They looked slightly similar, both with very Japanese features, short dark hair, and shy expressions. They were even dressed similarly, in regular kimonos. Asawe's was pale blue, and Chisa's was lavender. They were holding hands. Very pretty.

Very doll like.

"Of course," he replied. "I always love to come here in the spring." He smiled disarmingly at them. "You don't need to look so nervous," he said. "I don't bite."

Chisa tried to smile. Asawe didn't. She just looked at him seriously. "The others don't like you," she said simply. "The older ones. There are rumors about you that . . . that make us frightened."

"Then why are you talking to me?" Muraki asked curiously. In truth, he liked both Chisa and Asawe. They were so similar, yet so different. They were both quiet and timid to a fault. Yet Chisa was usually seen with a smile on her face and a few light words to lift everyone else's spirits. He found it quite remarkable, given what she'd lived through. Asawe, on the other hand, was perpetually serious and thoughtful.

"Because Oriya-san wouldn't let you hurt us," Chisa stated with certainty.

Muraki smiled. "Oriya isn't here."

Asawe just continued giving him the serious look. "But we don't think you would hurt us anyway, because you love Oriya-san. Don't you?"

Muraki turned away and said nothing.

"I'm sorry," Asawe said in a small voice. "I didn't mean to presume."

"That's the other rumor," Chisa said, with a small smile. "Yoshie started that one. She said that when she looked at the two of you together, she could tell. Suzumi thought she was lying, but then Suzumi saw you two kissing in the hall last night . . ."

"Why are you saying this to me?" Muraki asked curiously.

Chisa and Asawe glanced at each other. "Because we love Oriya-san very much," Chisa finally said. "He saved us both. He takes care of us. I suppose he's the closest thing to a father that either of us have ever had . . . and we want him to be happy."

Muraki laughed and shook his head. "Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but Oriya will never be happy with me. As soon as he and I have talked, I'll be heading off again."

Asawe looked out into the distance. "That," she said with certainty, "will make Oriya-san very unhappy." Chisa nodded, backing her up on this. "He's always unhappy right after you leave. He stays in your room and mopes all the time. Or at least that's what Mitsu says. We haven't been here long enough to notice. But Mitsu doesn't lie, not the way Yoshie does."

"Does he, now," Muraki said, amused by this.

They both nodded in unison.

"Like last time," Chisa said in a hushed voice, as if someone else might be listening, "just before you came back injured, he stayed up there all night, not saying anything to anyone. He wouldn't even come down to help the restaurant. Himiko-san tried to ask him about it, but all he would say was that you weren't coming back anymore."

"But then you did come back," Asawe added.

"Yes," Muraki said. "Then I came back." Because he had had nowhere else to go. And for some inexplicable reason, he wasn't dead.

"He was very worried that you might die," Chisa said quietly. "He stayed up there and held your hand and refused to leave your side for anything. Himiko-san had to drag him down to dinner after two days."

Muraki lit a cigarette. He had heard enough. He didn't want to listen to any more stories about how much Oriya cared for him, or much worried he was. "I assure you both that Oriya will be far better off without me in his life."

"You always say that," a sharper voice intervened. "And then you always come back."

Muraki turned, then smiled slightly. "Itsuko-chan. A pleasure as always."

"Cut the crap," she said. "You don't like me and I despise you. I also can't count how many times that Yoshie and I have seen you do that to Oriya. You say you'll leave him alone, and then you'll come back. And he always lets you. I'm starting to wonder why he hasn't disemboweled you. Oh, never mind," she added with a wicked smile. "Someone beat him to it."

Muraki rolled his eyes. Itsuko had been working at the Ko Kaku Rou for over five years, and they had hated each other since day one. Muraki couldn't count the number of times he'd come close to killing her. Only his promises to Oriya held him back. The damnable thing was, she knew that he wouldn't kill her, and exploited the advantage. She was utterly insufferable.

He had one weapon, though. Using the affectionate nickname drove her absolutely crazy. "Now, now, Itsuko-chan," he said, in as condescending a tone as he could muster, "I was trying to talk to Chisa-chan and Asawe-chan. If you have something useful to say, please feel free to chime in. Otherwise, leave us alone."

"Yeah," she said. She plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and took a long drag, then dropped it and crushed it out with her heel. It hadn't even been half-smoked. "Oriya's home. And he wants to see you."

~~~~