Author's note: This is based in Clamp's Clamp Campus Detectives.
This story contains Shounen Ai (two guys in love). If you find that icky or otherwise have problems with that, that's between you and your sexual identity issues. Don't bother me with it, you've been aptly warned.
Sorry about the lateness again. I said I would post it early and here it is Sunday night. I'll be sure to get the next and last chapter up on time.
Oh and of course I own none of these characters, save my three terrors. If I did, I wouldn't be posting here now would I?
Tamae woke for the second time that day and eve to the feeling of warmth and love all around him. His face was buried in Jun'ko's chest as he laid in his arms. The gentle heat of his emotions bathed him and Tamae felt healthier than he ever had. It was like it had felt waking up that first morning when Kumi had brought him home to stay (minus the hangover). It felt... Kumi!
Suddenly Tamae bolted up and there, asleep in the chair across from the bed, was Kumi. His abilities hadn't lied, he had felt him. Fighting to keep from crying, Tamae grabbed his robe and wrapped it around his bare body. Padding softly across the carpet, Tamae came to a stop before his friend, glancing back at his sleeping lover. He tentatively reached out to touch Kumi, verifying he was actually there, and with a sob Tamae jumped on Kumi, leaving the ringmaster to wake to a crying psychic on his lap. "Huh?"
As he blinked his way into wakefulness, Jun'ko woke as well. "Kumi?!" He pulled the covers around himself hastily.
Amidst some hysterical ranting, Tamae managed to make a few words understood. "You came back! You came back! Thank god. I'm so sorry; I'll never do it again. Please, don't leave. Please. Please..."
Kumi wrapped him up in a hug and tried to quiet him. "Of course, I came back. How could you doubt it? Don't cry." He hushed him, softly. "I was pissed off but I wouldn't just ditch you two. Jun'ko?" he asked, looking over to the happy but beet red bookkeeper. "Did you think I wouldn't come back?" His only answer was to lower his head. "Hey," he grabbed Tamae's chin and made him look up at him. "You remember what I said, way back when? We're family, so that means I'm stuck with you two prudes."
Tamae laughed and hugged him tighter and realized for the first time that he was wearing new clothes. "Kumi, where did you go? You didn't have these before."
"The Kaichou challenged me to a game of cards, so I had to look nice and my clothes were quite done for after sleeping under a tree."
Tamae's brows knitted of their own accord as he tried to guess at what had happened. "Cards? Kumi what did you do?"
He sighed but Tamae didn't let go or back off. "He wanted me to leave the school so he played me for it. I won of course but it was a good idea on his part."
"What did he loose?" Jun'ko asked, still staying wrapped up like a Christmas present wrapped by a five year old.
"He has to leave the school permanently," he chimed, as if this was the most amusing thing in the world.
"Kumi!" they yelled in unison as Tamae climbed out of his lap clumsily.
"How could you?! After everything I told you, pleaded with you about?! That poor man! Kumi how-!" Suddenly Tamae's anger vanished as Kumi stood up. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, please!" He wrapped his arms about Kumi's bicep, intent not to let him leave again. "I don't care about him, its okay. Just don't leave!" He was dropping back into hysterics and all the reassuring things Kumi had just got done saying were instantly forgotten. He didn't have much at all in the world, just Jun'ko and Kumi, and the simple thought of loosing either was enough to make him come apart.
"It's okay Tamae, it's okay. I'm not leaving. I was just pacing, I promise."
"...Tamae, shhhh." He turned to see that Jun'ko had left the bed to hold him while he kept his death grip on Kumi's arm. "It's okay. He isn't leaving."
"No, of course not. It's okay." Kumi knelt with him as Tamae's legs gave out. Still sobbing, he curled against Kumi, (feeling his fiery twist of emotions so hot they nearly burned him) while he pulled Jun'ko against himself (indulging in the soft, steady warmth that rolled off of him, blotting out the chaos of the other man). As Tamae let down all his barriers to drown in the emotions of his family, content to just be held back. "You don't have to apologize for yelling at me, Tamae. That's your job."
Through his slowing tears he laughed and leaned back from him. "Well, maybe if you weren't such a horrible jerk I wouldn't have to," he joked as Jun'ko pulled him closer to hold him on his lap.
"Oh, you'd be bored out of your mind if I was a decent human being, and you know it." He leaned back against the chair as Tamae laughed again. "At least you two look happy enough."
Tamae felt his face grow hot and he turned to hide his blush against Jun'ko as he felt his lover's embarrassment as well. "Yes, I suppose..." Jun'ko mumbled. "Though why exactly were you watching us sleep?" Tamae lifted his head and looked back at Kumi. In his excitement at having Kumi back he hadn't thought about it.
Kumi just snorted. "You two looked so cute. How could I resist? Besides, you two made a mess of my room..." Tamae felt his face redden again as Jun'ko's embarrassment rose as well, "...so I figured, if you two can screw where I sleep, I can sleep where you two screw." Kumi laughed at his own joke and stood up leaving Jun'ko and Tamae to consider hiding under the very rumpled bed. "Ah well..." he stretched and smiled down at them. "I'm gonna go to sleep on the couch." He headed out but stopped halfway out the door. "That is unless you two took a turn on that, too?"
Tamae wanted to die and managed to eek out, "No."
"Oh good. How about the hallway?" he asked waving at the area in question.
"No. Jun'ko's bed is... alright, too. I'm sure it would be more comfortable." He felt his lover nod his head.
"Okay, so the hallway, the couch, and Jun'ko's room are the safe areas? Good, I'm claiming his bed." As he turned the corner and headed to the room in question he continued to talk. "Boy I tell you what. I leave for a night and it turns into a regular blue porno around here. You'd think you two would be sad to see me come back..." His voice trailed off as he closed the door and Tamae started giggling.
Suoh finished off the papers he had as the Kaichou looked up from his desk. For the past hours he had diligently tore through his own papers, intent at not leaving a mess of work to his replacement. It was almost three when he finally laid down his pencil. "Ah, well. It will have to do. It's almost the end of the day and I don't want to remain later than I promised." He pulled over two papers he had set aside and stared at them, before reaching for his pen.
"Oh, surely there's something we can do about this! Won't he take another price instead?" Akira exclaimed, jumping up from his desk. "You can't quit, Kaichou. You're the absolutely greatest at your job! The school wouldn't the same without you!"
"Akira..." he started but Akira continued, ringing his hands before him.
"You're Kaichou. If you quit... If you quit..." He stammered on this, looking as miserable as Suoh felt.
Suoh looked over to the Kaichou and saw him lower his head again and nod barely. "Then he'll still be Kaichou, none the less," Suoh stated, causing them both to look at him. "It won't matter at all between us."
The Kaichou smiled sadly at that and nodded stronger this time. "Thank you, Suoh, and thank you too, Akira. I'm touched by how upset you are, truly." He then quickly signed the bottom of the first page and then the bottom of the second, like someone ripping off a band-aid, before shoving them away from himself. He stared at the papers numbly for a minute, before he stood up. "There. It's done. I'll go take these to the chairman at once," he said as he stepped around his desk, clutching them.
As he did Suoh signed the bottom of two papers of his own before standing and handing them to the Kaichou. "If you would..."
The puzzled look on Kaichou's face snapped to shock and displeasure in an instant. "Oh, Suoh, no! That was my debt; it had nothing to do with you. I won't stand for you doing this!" he ordered, handing the papers back to him.
"What is it?" Akira asked walking over to look at the papers.
"It's my choice," Suoh said flatly. "Besides, that wasn't an idle promise I made back then. I'm bound to you, where you lead I follow." Suoh crossed his arms and refused to take back the pages. It was madness for Kaichou to even consider that he'd let him resign alone.
"Suoh, no! This is your school; you've gone here since the second grade. I won't let you do this. Its too much."
"Oh!" Akira exclaimed as he finally saw what the papers that Kaichou was waving were. "You're resigning as well, Takamura sempai?"
"Yes."
"No, he is not!"
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" Akira cheered happily, causing Kaichou to look like he'd swallowed a bug. "If we all resign we'll still be together and get to go to a new school! It'll be like an adventure!" The soon to be ex-treasurer bounced around his desk and rooted through his filing cabinet looking nothing like the nineteen year old man he was. Suoh was left to marvel at his enduring innocence for the few moments it took him to find the pages, "Here they are! I knew I had a few copies of withdrawal papers."
"Akira no!" Kaichou yelled grabbing the pages back from him. "No, I can't let you two do this! This... It's..." Suoh watched the tears start in his blue eyes and laid a hand on his shoulder as he relinquished the pages to Akira, who quickly signed them. "No... You can't."
"It'll be an adventure, right Ijyuin san?"
"Oh, definitely. I bet it will be good to go somewhere else after being here so long, no matter how wonderful it was. Besides..." he added softly, putting his own papers with Suoh's and Kaichou's. "It wouldn't be wonderful without you, Kaichou. You'll see; it'll be fine."
Kaichou's mouth opened and closed a few times as he looked back to Suoh, who just shook his head. "This is our choice. We're going with you. Now turn in our papers."
Covering his face in his hand a moment, Kaichou looked back at them both with tear-covered cheeks and smiled a bit. "Thank you," he said with a trembling voice and Akira hugged him again, crushing the Kaichou's smaller frame in his surprisingly strong arms. Suoh couldn't help but laugh as the Kaichou's eyes went a bit wider at the pressure.
Tamae stepped out of the shower to a truly delicious smell wafting through the halls. Following his nose, he found the kitchen with Kumi setting out dinner. "Hungry?" he asked innocently.
Tamae huffed at him. "As if I had a choice, that smells wonderful."
"Why thank you," he said as he sat out the food before Tamae as Jun'ko walked in from reading in the living room.
They had made it most of the way through the meal before Tamae's conscious was pushing on his so hard even Kumi's food wasn't enough to silence it. "Kumi?"
"Hm?"
"You didn't really make that man leave his school, did you?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course I did," he said matter-of-factly as he refilled his drink.
Tamae's face fell as he stared blankly at his plate, but before he could comment, quiet Jun'ko did. "You shouldn't have. It wasn't anywhere near necessary and its not like he didn't anything wrong."
"Incorrect," Kumi replied and took a drink. "He did something very wrong."
"Kumi..." they chorused.
"No, now hear me out. You said that the school was his whole life, right? Well, that's no way for someone to live."
"But-"
"But nothing. Listen, you two just sit there and eat your udon and let me handle it."
"But-"
"Don't you two trust me?"
"No," they again chorused with out a moment's hesitation.
Kumi smiled. "You two are so smart," he said sweetly as he stood up to pat them both on their unamused heads. "But seriously, set aside your well reasoned and substantiated misgivings and let it go for a bit."
As he happily resumed eating, Tamae looked at Jun'ko and after a moment of mutual confusion and doubt they went back to their meals as well.
"Kaichou?" The room was darkened but Suoh could still hear the sound of his charge's breathing. He stepped around the sofa sitting before the lit fire to find him curled up in a blanket, knees drawn to his chest. "How are you doing?"
He stayed silent; his only response was to curl into himself tighter. Suoh took the lack of proper answer as an invite to sit. "I..." he finally began. "I think I should be alone for a bit. I..."
"You look horrible, I doubt being alone would do much more than make you worry yourself sick." He looked over to his chosen and attempted to read his face.
The small blonde looked up at him with the oddest of expressions before he ducked his face back into his knees. "No... no, I need to be alone. I'm sorry. I just can't..."
Suoh could hear the tremor in his voice again and it felt like his chest was being crushed. Nokoru's well-being was his responsibility and it hurt deeply to hear him in pain. "It's okay..." He laid a hand on his shoulder and gripped it firmly, trying to comfort him, but Kaichou seemed to recoil slightly from the touch.
"I..." He started but didn't continue. Suoh didn't know what was wrong or how to fix it but lately he seemed to want held more than anything and Suoh was happy to offer.
Leaning closer he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him a little nearer, but before he could say anything Nokoru turned quickly into him and latched on with a sob.
Suoh held him tightly, dipping his face into his hair so that the smell of the softly scented soaps he used were clearly detectable. As new as the sensation of Nokoru in his arms was, it was welcomed and enjoyed. It felt safe and natural to enclose him tightly so that he could feel his heart beat. Suoh couldn't remember ever feeling as secure as he did during these moments and as Nokoru shifted his position to wrap his arms around Suoh's neck and press his face into his neck, Suoh only adjusted his grip. He was vaguely aware that Nokoru was on his knees on the couch to achieve the position but all he cared was that he was safe and warm against him. He was focused on that as he ran his hands up Nokoru's back, when his charge suddenly leaned back to be face to face with Suoh a moment before he pressed his lips against Suoh's.
Suoh started a moment, not expecting it, but Nokoru was pushing all of himself into the kiss, framing Suoh's face with his hands and leaning on him heavily, so Suoh quickly reciprocated. He brought his arms around his narrow waist and drew him into his lap as he deepened the kiss. Exploring his charge's mouth, the perfect warmth of him was suddenly lost as Nokoru jumped back as if he's been burned. He had a hand brought up in shock as he scrambled from Suoh's lap. "No, no, no."
"Nokoru?"
"Why did I do that?" he started to cry as he stumbled to the floor despite Suoh's attempts to catch him, in fact he shoved Suoh away every time he tried to reach for him. "I'm a monster. How could I do that?"
"It's alright, Nokoru," he tried to convince him as he curled into a ball and started crying, but again as he tried to reach for him, Nokoru recoiled from him.
"Alright? It's not alright!" he suddenly shouted before collapsing back into sobs. "It's not alright. I'm a horrible person."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am. I was just kissing a girl's fiancé... Nagisa san is my friend even and I did this. How...?"
Suoh shook his head, suddenly understanding. "Nagisa san wouldn't be upset, I promise. She-"
"How could she not be?! You've been happy together for so long; I even brought you too together because I knew how much you would love each other. I knew you'd never love me, I wanted you to be happy..."
"Nokoru, no. Please, stop; let me explain."
"I wanted you to be happy and now I've ruined it with my selfishness-"
"No! Nokoru listen to me," he grabbed him quickly and shook him slightly to get his attention. "You haven't ruined anything." As Nokoru tried to dispute it he spoke over him. "Nagisa and I have broken off the engagement. You haven't ruined anything, you haven't hurt anyone."
"What?" Nokoru abruptly stopped crying and looked at him, blinking in confusion.
Sighing, Suoh laid everything out as he released the no longer hysterical man. "Nagisa san and I broke off the engagement a couple months before the new school year began. At first we decided to keep it a secret till we were comfortable with our decision; then we kept it that way because we didn't want to lay any more pressure on you."
"But..." he looked like his world had just been turned upside down. "But you said just yesterday that you two were happy and-"
"I only said that to make you happy. I would have told you that I was dating Ijyuin at that point." Nokoru smiled a bit and tried to laugh. "I just said what I thought you wanted to hear."
Nokoru's face darkened in thought for a moment. "I..." but Suoh cut in again.
"You're in love with me?" It was a possibility that had never occurred to him, but in retrospect he was beginning to doubt his own intelligence. Some of the things Nokoru did, the way he looked at him sometimes... "You are, aren't you?"
"I..." he wavered, un5sure and staring at his hands, but Suoh came up close to him and lifted his chin. He watched Nokoru's large, blue eyes dart away but in the end meet his and he brushed the side if his face lightly. The gentle strength paired with vulnerability he found there, had always been there, the selflessness of living for others and shutting up your own love so that the one you loved could be happy, the intense need and mournful loneliness, it was all vividly clear and Suoh felt himself captured by it all. Somewhere within a voice rambled on about how it was only his born-in bond with Nokoru that he was feeling, but as a small smile reached his face, he decided that he really didn't care.
As he gently pulled him close he dipped his head down and caught his lips again. This kiss wasn't as rushed as the first; it was slow and loving and afterwards Nokoru pulled back a bit. "Suoh, you don't have to."
The bodyguard smiled and kissed him on his cheek. "I wasn't aware I was being forced..." he let the words trail off as he began to kiss down Nokoru's neck. As his love brought his arms around him again, Suoh began to undo his tie slowly.