Six tally marks went down inside of Seishirou's mind: pink, rouge, apple, scarlet, tomato, and crimson. "You're know you're adorable when you blush, Subaru-kun, " he said as he finished wrapping the towel around his waist.

He'd just caught sight of a doe-in-the-headlights Subaru through a half-opened bathroom door; apparently he hadn't expected to see his veterinarian fully nude and fresh from the shower.

"Something you like?" he asked, innocently.

Gloved hands clamped over his face. "G-gomen nasai! I wasn't staring. I wasn't even l-looking—"

"No?" Seishirou's face drooped, employing his favorite trick. He sighed, "I guess I'm not vain enough to suppose I'm the least bit attractive to hold your attention," he shook his head sadly, looking close to tears. "I can't even hold a candle to you, the most beautiful man in Japan. But I'd like to think I try."

A bright shade of plum, another tally mark.

"That's not it at all!" Subaru scrambled for a way to reassure the stricken man. "You're much more attractive than I would ever…"

Amber eyes lit. "So, you think I'm sexy?"

A hard thump as Subaru fell to the floor. The man grinned: hues of brick and wine flashed across the boy's pale palate. Though he couldn't bite back a laugh, he extended a hand out to the young man who, with help, blearily sat up once again.

"It's not funny, Seishirou-san," he whined. "I was looking for Hokuto's favorite bath salts. She said she'd die if she didn't have them and made me go look for them in her bathroom. Something about it being urgent. I really had no idea you were visiting her today…"

"I bet she was behind this, then. My apologies." Subaru fidgeted uncomfortably, so Seishirou ushered him in. "I stopped over for afternoon tea, and spilled it all over myself. Imagine my embarrassment! Close the door if you don't mind? It's quite chilly."

"O-of course."

The steam-filled room seemed smaller than before. Seishirou-san was still shirtless. Subaru had grown uncomfortably warm, and he began pulling at the collar of the black turtleneck. Seishirou hadn't begun dressing, and the towel was quite the wrong size: a wide split revealed much of his upper thigh. Miraculously, it held.

The mirrored cabinet held many things, Seishirou saw, but no bath salts.

"I'm sorry, Subaru-kun. I don't see them in here, but maybe these will do?"

There were four small bottles of scented massage oil in his hand.

"I-I don't think so, Seishirou-san."

Seishirou rummaged again. "Talc? Perfume? Hairspray? Barrettes? Nail polish remover? Girls certainly have an obsession with being cute, don't they."

Subaru nodded in agreement.

"Aha!" He'd found something.

Something was thrust into Subaru's hands. Something metal, hinged, and complicated. His gloves fumbled for a better grip on the contraption.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He looked at it suspiciously.

"It's an eyelash curler."

"What? People put this near their eyes!?"

"It's a wonderful invention." Seishirou nodded. "Allow me to demonstrate? Subaru-kun, lean close this way."

Nevertheless, Subaru was apprehensive. "It won't hurt, will it?"

"Please trust that I won't ever let anything harm you," he said, seriously.

The final walls of resistance crumbled. Seishirou leaned quite close, nearly nose to nose, to the young Onmyouji. He took a cheek in hand to angle his pretty face and Subaru instinctively closed his eyes, but Seishirou urged him to keep them open. "And please, don't bite your lip like that…"

"Sorry," was the whispered apology.

Seishirou curled the lashes of both eyes, and Subaru had to agree that, contrary to his imagination, it was painless.

"Your cheeks are a pretty shade of rose, Subaru-kun." Tally.

"A-ano…"

"Hmm?"

"H-hokuto-chan…" Subaru, cornered at a wall, was staring at the door behind Seishirou's back.

"What about her?"

Hokuto shrieked gleefully, giving the sharp giggle of attack. "Gotcha!"

Seishirou didn't so much as blink, divested of his only covering, when the door banged loudly and he was suddenly bare. The little imp had grabbed the towel, yanked, and slammed the door, locking it from the outside with jitsu.

And there it was: beet. The final shade.

Hokuto's muffled laughter was suppressed long enough for her to yell, "How many shades, Sei-chan?" though the door.

"Eleven!" Seishirou had won his bet.

"Uso!" Hokuto yelled.

"...uso," Subaru simultaneously mumbled through his gloves.

The naked Seishirou could only laugh.