ne, have i kept to my promise? well, i'm trying to update as fast as i can cos' i'll be going overseas. i'm trying to finish off this fic before i leave so that i won't leave my dearest readers hanging halfway there. heez... anyways, thanx once again for all the reviews! Pls keep up with them, sankyuu!

Disclaimer: not mine nya! ne, Kunisuke is mine though.

(words in /.../ are thoughts of the character.)

Kikumaru Speaks:

4pm.

The door flung open out of the blue. A redhead popped in.

"Hoi! I'm here, Fuji! Business was good today nya, so I could close the shop earlier. Business is always better on Sunday's ne! Did Tezuka come and – "

The redhead stopped as abruptly as he started and shrieked at the sight of the young Tezuka, who was reading a magazine before the chatty man stepped in.

"—Tezuka!! What happened nya? Did he shrink? Fuji! This is scary nya!"

Fuji burst out laughing. The boy stared at Kikumaru, lost for words.

"Eiji, calm down... That's Suke-chan. Tezuka didn't shrink, for kami-sama's sake! How on earth did you think of that? Is your undefeatable vision failing you today?"

The boy stood up and greeted the frenzied man politely,

"Konbanwa, Eiji-ojisan."

Kikumaru rubbed his eyes and looked at the boy, then at Fuji.

"Suke-chan? Oh! Kunisuke! Oh my, you really caught me! You really look like Tezuka nya... the last time I saw you was about three years ago, at your mother's funeral right? You've grown taller. You scared me nya, I thought you were Tezuka. Oh, where's the 'real' Tezuka?"

"He said he had an important call to make, he'll be back soon."

Almost too soon. The bespectacled man walked in right after that reply.

"Eiji."

The redhead bolted in shock and turned around to face the 'real' Tezuka.

"You're so loud. I could hear you from outside. This is a hospital, not a market."

"Ne, ne, stop scaring me nya! First, the little one, now the bigger one. Does it run in the family nya?"

Tezuka glared at the babbling redhead. Fuji chuckled in amusement as his best friend flustered at the sight of Tezuka's death glare. The redhead heaved a sigh of relief when Fuji spoke to Tezuka, distracting the taller man.

"What was the important call about? Work?"

"I called to apply for leave. I've taken one week's leave so that I can spend more time with you. Oishi said I should."

Fuji smiled in delight. /I love you so much, Kunimitsu!/

"Nya, that's so sweet of you, Tezuka! I must tell Oishi about it. Oh, by the way, where's Oishi?"

"He went home to rest already."

"Ah... he had night duty last night."

Tezuka looked at his son, wondering if he minded his sudden decision to spend more time with Fuji. The boy looked into his deep brown eyes, as if reading his thoughts.

"Don't worry about me, Otosan. I can take care of myself."

He was very comforted that his son understood his actions. The boy really really reminded him of Fuji, the way he could seemingly read his thoughts and the way he would reassure him and support his decisions.

"Ne, Tezuka. If you don't mind, I can baby-sit Suke-chan for you! He can stay over at our place, Oishi would be more than glad to have him over."

"That would be good, thank you. But that would only be fine if Kunisuke wants to."

The boy was trying to make a decision.

/I'm not a baby, I don't need a babysitter. And first there was one, now there's two of them calling me Suke-chan... But then again, I wouldn't have to cook for myself if I stayed over.../

Tezuka Kunisuke, like Tezuka Kunimitsu, was not very well skilled at cooking. The food they made were edible, but that was all there was to it.

"Can I stay over, Otosan?"

"Go ahead. But behave yourself, don't create any trouble."

"No trouble at all, Tezuka. Suke-chan is a well-behaved boy. How much trouble can a boy with your kind of genes cause anyway? I'll be glad as long as he didn't inherit your glares."

Fuji giggled as Eiji got hit by a double dose of the 'Tezuka's glare'.

/Damn. He inherited it too./

Golden Pair's residence.

"Oishi! Look who's here! Suke-chan's staying over for the next week."

"Kunisuke?"

the raven-haired man's eyes widened as the boy walked into the apartment.

"Sorry to trouble you, Oishi-ojisan, Eiji-ojisan."

"Nya its no problem! It's fun to have you over. Oishi, he's staying here because Tezuka took one week's leave to spend more time with Fuji. So sweet nya!"

The taller man smiled calmly.

"You can sleep in Fuji's room since he's not here."

The boy entered the room and looked around. It was neat and simple. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a shelf hanging off the wall with more than ten cacti sitting on it. There were a few photo frames sitting on the desk. He walked closer to take a look. They were all photos of his father and Fuji. Surprisingly, he thought that they indeed made a beautiful couple, although Fuji was a guy.

9:30pm.

"Hoi, Suke-chan. Are you going to bed yet?"

"Soon, Eiji-ojisan."

"Yay! I can tuck you in... and tell you a bedtime story if you want nya!"

The redhead pushed the boy into bed and pulled the covers over him. The boy stared at the hyperactive man and decided that he didn't mind a 'bedtime story'.

"Eiji-ojisan... are Otosan and Fuji-ojisan together now?"

"Neh... They're not, but in their hearts they are. After Tezuka's divorce, he did ask Fuji to be his boyfriend again, but Fuji declined. He said he didn't want Tezuka's sex preference to be of any influence to you."

"Did they see each other after Otosan got married?"

"As far as I know of, they did regularly at first. At least once a week. But they met up fewer times after your Okaasan got pregnant. That's when Fuji started drinking. After that, Fuji practically stayed away from all of us, especially Tezuka."

The boy stared at the ceiling. A few moments of silence, and then the redhead started talking again.

"Fuji went through a lot nya, he's really strong. If Oishi broke up with me, I'd probably cry until my eyes bled and then die of sorrow."

"Didn't Fuji-ojisan cry?"

"When he moved in, he looked totally normal in the day time. But once night fell, he would coop himself up in the room. Sometimes he cried, sometimes he didn't. I remember one night... it was scary nya.

Oishi and I were having dinner, and Fuji was watching TV. He suddenly stood up and went to the bathroom. Oishi and I didn't think much of it, so we didn't bother about him. But after 20 minutes, he was still inside. We went to the door and we could hear him crying. So we knocked on the door and asked if he was ok. He didn't reply, but the crying stopped. We were knocking on the door for five minutes, before he finally opened the door. He walked out and smiled at us, asking if dinner was nice. It seemed like the 'normal' Fuji, but it was obvious he had been crying, his eyes were all puffy and swollen. He then went back to his room and locked himself in. Oishi and I thought he would be fine, because that's what usually happened, so we went on with our stuff. 15 minutes later, he started again. We stood outside the door and we heard him sobbing, calling for Tezuka, ragged breathing, choking on his own breaths... we knocked on the door. But he didn't respond at all. 15 minutes of knocking on the door and he was still crying, not answering us. Oishi then decided to call Tezuka.

Tezuka rushed here after Oishi called. He knocked on the door and called for Fuji. Soon, the crying stopped. Then Fuji started screaming for Tezuka to go away. Tezuka was very patient. He continued to knock on the door, telling Fuji that he wanted to see him. We stood there and watched him for a long time, before the door finally opened, revealing a quivering Fuji, eyes swollen, hair tousled, face lined with traces of tears. Tezuka pulled Fuji into his arms and hugged him tightly. Fuji broke out into tears again. This time, we weren't worried, because we knew he was crying in happiness and relief, and because Tezuka would be there to soothe him.

That was the first time Tezuka saw Fuji, after Fuji started to shun away from us. He walked out of Fuji's room after he put him to bed. His eyes were getting teary. He told Oishi, if he knew how shriveled Fuji had become, he wouldn't have listened to Oishi and not see Fuji. It hurt him to see how haggard Fuji had become... I asked him why Fuji was exceptionally upset that day. It turned out that it was their anniversary day. The next day, I asked Fuji about it. He said every year, on that particular day, he would uncontrollably be washed over by his emotions. He just couldn't get over Tezuka, even though he had been trying to for the past five years. Every year on their anniversary day, he would cry hysterically until he was too tired and fell asleep unknowingly.

After that incident, Tezuka started seeing Fuji again. They didn't see each other very often, because Tezuka was busy with work and you, but it was enough to keep Fuji from breaking down."

Kikumaru looked at the boy in bed, who was staring at him intently, and squealed in excitement.

"Suke-chan, you're so kawaii nya! You really really really look like Tezuka when he was your age, except that you have blue eyes. A mini Tezuka! Ah, maybe I shouldn't call you Suke-chan, sounds too much like I'm calling Fuji. I should call you... Te-Chan! Yes, Te-Chan sounds better! Yosh! Te-Chan it is!"

The young Tezuka continued to stare at the rambling Kikumaru. He wondered how his father had managed to have control over this chattering ball of energy.

"All right, all right, I should be putting you to sleep, you have school tomorrow. Inui will punish you if you're late for morning training nya? Go to sleep now, Te-Chan! Oyasuminasai!"

The man walked off and turned off the light on his way out.

"Oishi nya!" the redhead hopped on to his boyfriend's back.

"What is it, Eiji? Kunisuke's asleep already?"

"I felt like I was tucking Tezuka in nya! I mean the 'real' Tezuka."

"Mm. He does look a lot like Tezuka. He even behaves like him."

"Ne, ne, let's go to sleep too. I want to send Te-Chan to school tomorrow and give Inui a surprise visit..."

It had been a long day.

alright, next up will be our magnificent data man to give us more data, in Inui Speaks: . will be up tomorrow ne! Ja!