Fleeting Fantasies
By Klyre

One
Makenshi: Confidant

DISCLAIMER: FFU is not mine. Damn it.
Warnings: Slash, unusual pairing, some cursing. Bad grammar, bad spelling, awful plot and corny humor. OOC characters. Semi-AU. No like, no read. If you still want to read, go ahead. But remember, you have been warned.

Setting / Timeline: After the series, perhaps...? Oh, and, uh, Madoushi lives. Yipee.

Shiroi Kumo was a good friend. Shiroi Kumo was a very good friend. Shiroi Kumo had an arch nemesis bent on destroying him and eradicating his very existence from the face of the earth, but now they were best friends. Don't ask us how it happened – it just did.

Now where were we? Oh, yes. Shiroi Kumo, as we said, was a best friend. Still, even the best, best friends have a limit in which they would be tempted to do something very un-best friend-ish. As for Kumo, his patience was running out. The white clad swordsman was seconds from smashing his best friend's head into the solid concrete wall of the café.

Said best friend was sitting across him, with a hopeless, doleful look on his face as he stared into his cup of coffee. His semi-Gothic outfit and the mean looking gun on his right arm did not compliment his puppy dog eyes at all. Kuroki Kaze sniffled.

Kumo forced himself to unclench his fist. "Why don't you ask him out already?" he almost yelled, exasperated.

Him, referring to Kumo's lovely older brother whom Kaze had liked ever since they were first introduced. Which had been more than half a year ago, when the three of them had all moved in together.

So far, Kaze had tried every tactic he could think of to get Madoushi to notice him, but nothing ever worked. It didn't help that the gunner chickened out before every attempt, thus rendering each of his plans useless. Kumo, knowing how his friend felt, usually tried to help. Yet somehow, Kaze always managed to screw things up in turn making himself look stupid instead.

"I can't just waltz up to him and suggest lunch," Kaze protested. "You know I'd freak out!"

"No, you won't," Kumo objected, wanting to lift his spirits up. "If you keep saying you can't without trying, then how are you ever going to succeed?"

"I have tried," Kaze pointed out. "And failed miserably."

"Well, that was only once."

Kaze stared at him.

"Err…twice."

Kaze crossed his arms.

"In a row."

Kaze raised an eyebrow.

"Fine!" Kumo threw his hands up in the air. "You failed to ask him for a date twenty five consecutive times in the last eight months! Are you happy now?" He slumped further into his seat, scowling.

Kaze fingered the styrofoam cup, sloshing the dark liquid around. "I don't even think he likes me…" He looked up to find piercing green eyes glaring at him. "Uh, Shiroi…?"

"Don't even try to go there, Kaze," Kumo said firmly. "You're a great guy. My brother doesn't have a reason not to like you. Have a little faith, will you?"

"But I don't even know if he swings that way," the taller man muttered.

Kumo blinked. Then he burst out laughing, causing many of the patrons in the coffee shop to stare at him oddly. He covered his mouth, mumbling his apologies to them before turning back to face Kaze, still chuckling softly.

Kaze, in return, reached forward to feel his forehead. "Kumo, I think you've had a bit too many sweets today. Maybe we should go home and –"

"You're a dense idiot."

"Obviously, counting the number of times I've displayed my cowardice and lack of social skills in front of you."

"No, no, I didn't mean that." Kumo placed an elbow on the table, cupping his chin with one hand. "How are you e ven sure my brother isn't, well, homosexual?"

"He, ah…sure doesn't seem like it."

"Yeah? My oniisan isn't exactly straight, you know," Kumo grinned, making Kaze cough. "In fact, can you guess from whom he got his first kiss?" He batted his eyelashes innocently.

Kaze stared for a very long time. When realization finally hit him smack in the face, it took everything he had to keep himself from jumping out of his chair. He settled instead for gaping at the person in front of him. "Holy sh-"

"No swearing, no screaming and no fainting," Kumo interrupted. "And stop that," he added, pushing Kaze's hanging jaw back up with a finger. "If you aren't careful, it'll get stuck."

"Madoushi...with you?" Kaze stammered, reddening furiously. He couldn't bring himself to believe it. But then, the Mysidian brothers had been very intimate since he first saw them with each other, although he'd mistaken it for simple brotherly affection. Now he felt as if ten tons of bricks had come crashing on to him.

"Relax, I didn't say we liked each other that way," Kumo assured him.

"Then why…?" Kaze couldn't bring himself to complete the sentence. His friend only laughed at his flushed state. "Kaze, we were young, we were grounded and we were bored. Also…" Kumo cleared his throat discreetly. "I think brother watched too much when he was my age."

"Whoever said 'curiosity killed the cat' made a biiiig understatement," Kaze muttered darkly. His mind was turning on him, refusing to digest the newly acquired information. Kumo and Madoushi. Brothers. Kids. Incest. Mouth to mouth – He shook his head to clear the last thought. "I feel faint…"

Kumo flicked his nose teasingly. "We weren't serious. Besides," he smiled. "I really do admire my brother, but not in the sort of manner you do." He poked Kaze's forehead. "You'd better hurry up and tell him how you feel or I'm going to make you regret you didn't."

Kaze smiled back as they both stood up to leave. "So," he said while Kumo tossed a few coins to one of the waiters. "Is that a threat?"

Stepping out the glass door, Kumo smirked at him, trying to look mischievous. "What do you think?"

Kaze pretended to ponder for a moment. "No, you're too nice to do it."

"I'd take that as an insult, but you do have a point. I'm definitely not gay."

"Shut up, you," Kaze tried mock-glaring as the other boy laughed, but he found himself joining in after a second. As they headed down the street to the house the three of them shared, a question flashed through Kaze's head. He tapped Kumo's shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering…which of you two started that kiss?"

To be continued

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