Aishuu Offers:

Dross

mbsilvana@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Konomi-sensei, manga-ka!

Notes: Eiji muse has run away with me, so this looks like it might become a bit longer than I anticipated. O/K and some T/F.

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Part Three

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As Kikumaru pulled Oishi through the hallway at breakneck speed, he glanced over his shoulder nervously. "Are you sure we're not being followed?" he asked.

Oishi could understand the reason for his concern — splashing Fuji in the face with a fuzzy navel, no matter how irritating Fuji was being, was the equivalence of signing your own death warrant.

"I think he went to clean up, but..." Oishi trailed off, feeling exceptionally nervous himself. He had known that class reunions tended to have more than their share of antics, but he really hadn't been expecting anything like this to kick it off.

He wasn't quite sure why Kikumaru had been the one who had first snapped. Fuji had spent the night needling Tezuka, with Inui subtly encouraging him, as the other three of them had watched, feeling a bit like unwilling spectators with ringside seats at a rather bloody fight. Tezuka pretended to ignore each jab Fuji launched, which only encouraged the slender man to become more and more outrageous. Oishi wasn't sure if he liked the person Fuji had become. He was downright nasty at times, insinuating things that were... beyond rude.

Still, the six of them retired from the ballroom to the hotel bar for drinks, he hoped that the more private setting would mellow their moods. He had forgotten how nasty Fuji got after touching alcohol — and forgotten that Tezuka tended to brood even more after imbibing.

They had found a small circular table in the corner, with the low-light of the twilight hours casting strange illusions that Oishi's fanciful thoughts twisted. At one moment, he saw them as fifteen again, and in middle school, while the next the candlelight had aged them so they were white-haired old men, drinking to ages past. It was uncomfortable, really.

They spoke in low voices, and Oishi felt comfortable with Kikumaru on one side of him and Kawamura on the other. Tezuka was directly across, which made conversation easy... had Tezuka been inclined to it. But Tezuka was still more likely to fade to silence, letting others carry on his part in their talks.

None of them really drank enough to get drunk. They had done that, once, at seventeen, and learned their lesson. But the two glasses they did share was enough to lower their last remaining inhibitions, and that was enough to spark them off. Fuji didn't drink more than the two the rest of them had shared, just enough to loosen up, but the effect was devastating on his tongue.

Fuji, though, grew slightly more vocal as the evening progressed, pressing ruthlessly. "So, Tezuka..." Fuji said about an hour after they had entered, and his voice managed to cut through one of those periodic lulls in conversation that happened every now and then. "Have you given some thought to the advice I gave you?"

Oishi began to frantically think of some way to think of someway to distract Fuji, but couldn't. Glancing at Kawamura, the sushi chef gave him a shrug and his eyes seemed to say, Let them fight this one out.

Oishi knew he'd been out of touch for too long, if Tezuka and Fuji were so outwardly hostile. The subtlety he'd long admired in Fuji seemed to have been melted away, leaving only the sharpness that frightened so many.

"What advice would that be?" Tezuka asked neutrally, poking the olive in his glass with a toothpick. He didn't even bother looking over at Fuji, and Inui, who was seated between them, hitched his chair back a little, getting out of the way. Apparently the data collector thought this squabble was going to be the big one.

"Good point. I did give you quite a bit, but you always did ignore it," Fuji mused, tapping a finger against his chin thoughtfully. "The advice I was referring to was what I said when we last saw each other. About how you needed to learn how to relax."

Kikumaru squirmed a bit but Oishi put a hand on his knee, just like old times. Fuji wasn't going to be stopped, and Oishi didn't want to see Kikumaru caught in the crossfire. Kikumaru pulled back from Fuji, inching a bit closer to Oishi as his eyes widened.

"It's no concern of yours what I do," Tezuka said, and he turned his back slightly, obviously meaning to start a conversation with Kawamura. The chef looked uncomfortable, since he rarely spoke with Tezuka, and Oishi would have wagered that Kawamura wasn't fond of being used as an escape.

Oishi wondered when Tezuka had gotten stupid. The first rule of dealing with Fuji was never turn your back to him. Fuji just smiled, and raised an eyebrow, looking at Inui.

"There's more to life than laws, you know. If all we did was obey the law, life would be boring, don't you think?" he asked.

Inui didn't say anything, probably deciding that getting in the middle of the two was pure insanity. Unfortunately for him, that was exactly where he was seated, and there was no polite way to extract himself.

"Law is what provides cohesion to our society," Tezuka said, a bit stung as he turned his head back, forgetting about his intention to ignore Fuji.  Apparently this was a sore issue with him. "It gives us order."

"Law is for those who can't think for themselves," Fuji replied, and his smile seemed predatory as he moved in to further toy with his prey. "It's for those who are too weak—"

"Shut up, Fuji!" Kikumaru snapped, and before anyone knew it, the drink he had been holding went flying, dousing the former Seigaku team's tensai in the face.

One of those silences that was too heavy to be filled by anything except discomfort filled the air.

Oishi couldn't believe Kikumaru had done it. Fuji clearly couldn't believe Kikumaru had done it. From his face, Kikumaru couldn't believe he had done it.

Fuji stared at the redhead as he slowly raised a hand to his now-soaked face. The smile had vanished, and bright blue eyes were looking out dangerously. He was angry, everyone could tell, and Oishi looked at Kikumaru nervously. Apparently Tezuka wasn't the only one who had gotten stupid over time.

Kikumaru stared at the now-empty glass in his hand in shock.

"Um, I'm tired. Oishi, how about we go get some sleep? Goodnight everyone!" he said after a long moment, coming to his feet unsteadily in a way that had nothing to do with alcohol, and everything to do with the way Fuji was slowly shaking his head, trying to get the sweet liquor away from his eyes.

Oishi followed Eiji quickly, not wanting to wait around long enough for Fuji to gather himself. He knew that it was going to be trouble enough anyway, later. Best let Fuji sober up, and remember that Kikumaru didn't really mean anything nasty by his actions... probably. Oishi wasn't quite sure anymore. Kikumaru... wasn't who he had known.

None of them were. The only ones who had acted according to the scripts he still had memorized were Inui and Kawamura.

Kikumaru's room was on the ninth floor, and it took about five minutes to get there, all the while looking over their shoulders. Kikumaru fumbled with the key card a few times before the door opened, admitting them.

Oishi found himself shoved in rather rudely as Kikumaru forced him through, the redhead's haste making him rough. Oishi landed on his knees a bit hard, but Kikumaru followed just as quickly, slamming the door right behind him, finally leaning back against the door with a sigh of relief. "Safe!" he declared, taking a deep breath.

Oishi found himself breathing a bit heavily as well, the mad rush they had just taken part in having winded him. Climbing nine flights of emergency stairs when there was a perfectly good elevator was a bit mad...

Though considering what Kikumaru had done to Fuji, maybe it hadn't been so crazy. "Eiji, what the hell were you thinking?" Oishi asked, his politeness melting away as he realized how insane they had just acted. They were adults, not teenagers.

Eiji seemed embarrassed, but not at all repentant. "I just wanted him to be quiet," he said softly. He shrugged, flashed his grin, and blinked. "He'll forgive me after he kills me."

Oishi had a nasty mental picture of some of the things Fuji might think up. "He's going to be furious after he gets over the shock... and we left them with the bill..." Oishi said, suddenly realizing they had forgotten to pay in their haste to get out of there.

Kikumaru yawned, stretching slowly. "That's one more thing for Fuji to kill me for. If he can catch up to me..."

"Eiji, all he needs to do is check out the registry, and he can find out where your room is."

Kikumaru smiled slowly. "Hotels don't release that information anymore, you know. They won't even let people know you're staying anywhere."

Oishi wondered how Kikumaru knew that. "He can check with the organizers. Inui is one of them, remember?"

Kikumaru blinked once, and his smile slowly faded. "Well, shit."

"Eiji!" Oishi exclaimed a bit surprised at his friend's language. He finally made the effort to rise his feet, wincing a bit from a slightly sore knee.

"Sorry. Everyone in my dorm swore, and I sometimes start when I'm worried." There was a slight blush on his cheeks. "I'll try to watch it."

"It's fine," Oishi assured Kikumaru. "I just... wasn't expecting it."

Kikumaru settled on the bed closest to the window, his feet handing over the edge. "A lot's changed in ten years. I'm not sure what either of us should have been expecting." Purple eyes glanced over at Oishi curiously. "What did you expect me to be?"

Oishi opened his mouth and closed it, unable to say that he'd never really been able to imagine Kikumaru in the future. "Not someone who'd be able to throw a fuzzy navel in Fuji's face."

"He had that coming," Kikumaru said, folding his arms over his chest. He looked about ready to sulk.

Oishi kicked off his shoes and went over to the other twin bed, smiling slightly. It was a bit funny now, in retrospect, and he knew that Fuji's stunned expression would be one of his fondest memories – provided he and Kikumaru managed to make it through the rest of the weekend in one piece. "You know, maybe I should reconsider staying for the rest of the reunion if the entire time's going to be like this."

He'd meant to tease gently, but his comment apparently struck something in Kikumaru. The red head was suddenly as stiff as a board, his eyes a bit wide in panic. "No, no! I promise I'll apologize to Fuji in the morning!" Kikumaru said hurriedly. "Please stay, Oishi? We haven't seen each other in so long!"

It was hard not to be taken aback at the fervor in Kikumaru's voice, but Oishi merely gave what he hoped was a comforting smile. "I know, Eiji. I was teasing."

Some of the tension that had been in Kikumaru's shoulders relaxed, and the he gave a smile. "Sorry, sorry. I was just really looking forward to seeing you again... I'm glad you're still the way you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You're still Oishi," Kikumaru said simply. "It's nice to know you haven't changed." A yawn caught him by surprise, and he covered his mouth a bit guiltily. "I've got to go to sleep, but tomorrow we can have breakfast and sort this mess out." He kicked off his shoes and slipped under the blankets without bothering to change, apparently thoroughly exhausted.

Oishi hesitated for a moment before rising to turn off the room lights, promising himself he'd get a clean set of clothing in the morning. He found his bed surprisingly comfortable, and as he glanced at the clock, noticed it was going on 2 a.m.

No wonder Kikumaru was so tired.

Kikumaru was breathing softly, and Oishi thought him asleep until he heard the soft tenor speak. "I'm really glad you're here, Oishi. I missed you."

"I miss you too, Eiji," Oishi said, and was glad he wasn't lying. He had missed the redhead – but he wasn't sure if the Kikumaru he was meeting now was the one he had known. There seemed to be something different, something more thoughtful...

But before he could grasp onto that thought, the combination of his own fatigue and alcohol and the sound of Kikumaru's breathing took him off to sleep.

END PART THREE