Welcome to chapter three! I'm going to keep this short. Hope you like it. Please review. And remember, I don't own Yami no Matsuei. I only own the various OC's that appear every now and then. I also don't own the oldie "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and the Shondells. Nor do I own "Say A Little Prayer For You" I'm not sure who the first one to sing this song was but this version is by Aretha Franklin. "Unchained Melody" Doesn't belong to me either. All I hope is that you pardon any OOCness on Muraki's part. I'm really no good at his character, and he may seem softer then he should. Forgive me for that. And please keep reading. I think it's a good story and I hope you do too. Thanks a lot for stickin' with me thus far.

This chapter was written in coalition with Kage Chikara. An awesome author. You should really read her work under that name if you haven't already. It's really good. Thank you Kage-sama! I would also like to thank my dear friend Karma-chan for helping me with the characterization. Without her sending me the series I don't think I would have ever gotten Muraki and Oriya. I'd be writing them extremely OOC rather than moderately so. Therefore I'd like to thank her profusely. And if you want to read some of her awesome (award winning) fanfics email me and I'll give you her address! Thank you Kage-sama, thank you Karma-chan!

With all that said, Please enjoy!

that wasn't very short at all…

Frozen Chances
Chapter 3
Meeting at the Ko Kaku Rou

"Children behave! That's what they say when we're together." Yuki sang loudly as he danced around the living room, dining room, and kitchen, cleaning various things as he went. It wasn't a well-known fact that he was a neat freak. If anyone saw him just on the street they would think the exact opposite. He, however, hated things being crowded and dusty though. With the small apartment that Muraki kept in Kyoto, that was barely used it was both of those things and more. He couldn't stand the closed off positioning of the furniture, or the way that everything elevated had dust on it. So just as soon as Muraki had left he had begun to clean. Which led to repositioning the furniture.

After all this had taken place he realized that he was hungry, so when he went to make something to eat he noticed that it was remotely dusty in the cabinets as well which he had to remedy because he was already in the cleaning mood. Therefore the whole kitchen was also rearranged.

"The moment I wake up, from the time I put on my make up…" He continued singing as the song changed to one sung by Aretha Franklin. He was delighted as he moved back into the kitchen and he looked over his soup. A hearty tomato soup with various spices that he had added on a whim. With a spoon he lifted the soup to his lips not bothering to blow before tasting it. "Delicious!" He congratulated himself. Before moving to chop up tomatoes for his sandwiches.

"I wasn't aware that you could cook." Yuki gasped jumping at the sound of another person in the house. "Ahhh! Chikuchou!" He swore nursing his newly cut finger.

"Muraki! Haven't I asked you to at least knock before entering?" He scolded sourly before turning to regard the tall platinum haired doctor. "Not to my knowledge." Muraki answered truthfully. In a melodramatic expression of surprise Yuki fell over in a sweatdrop moment. "Ittai? I guess you really don't listen to me." He sniffed rubbing his temples in a defeated, irritated gesture.

"I was sure I told you this before." Muraki said with a smile. "Huh, Monki-sensei1, did you say something." Yuki asked cleaning out his ear disinterestedly. Muraki merely adjusted his glasses before moving to the pot of soup. "Is this edible?" He asked looking back at Yuki who seemed to find this a ghastly insult. "How dare you!" He gasped, "A curse on anything of yours that I don't use, or won't need to use!" He exclaimed wildly. Muraki smirked at his antics. "That's not an answer." He decided to let Yuki know that he was still waiting for an answer. Yuki stuck his tongue. "Comment grossier! Comment il m'insulte2!" he muttered before returning to his cutting.

He frowned as he heard Muraki laughing at his expanse. However all thoughts of revenge were dispelled as "Unchained Melody" began to play on the radio. "Sensei! You must dance with me!" he proclaimed excitedly before pulling his uncle to the newly bared floor in the living room.

Muraki humored him easily, having lost the will to be reluctant in the past eight weeks of his cognizance with Yuki.

"When did you learn to speak French?" Muraki asked he and Yuki took up dancing in their socks on a carpeted floor. Yuki seemed to consider this question. "My Maman3 was French, she taught me." He answered. Muraki smiled, "Was she?" He asked curiously. "Hai, she used to always speak French to me, she'd never talk in any other language. It was a pain in the ass to say the least. At least until I caught on."

"Did she teach you how to cook as well?" He asked.

"Eh? No, she was the one who cooked. That's why I taught myself." Yuki answered.

"You speak ever so fondly of your mother." Muraki teased gently, not really pushing the subject. "Muraki-san…did you know your hands are cold? I heard it's going to snow. Isn't that strange?"

"It has been unnaturally cold for the season…not to mention the climate." Muraki reflected, offering his own thoughts on the subject. Yuki sniffed as the song ended. "That song always ends too soon." He pouted. "That depends on your point of view." Muraki smirked stepping away from the boy and taking a seat on the couch. "Be nice Muraki or I'm turning to J-pop and shakin' my ass all around the house." Yuki warned, already considering doing just that. "Let's not, I've already gotten a headache just thinking about it." Muraki stated dryly.

"Muraki-san. You have to go take a shower. We have somewhere to be after lunch." Yuki said leaning over the couch to smile at his guardian. "I'm ecstatic." Muraki said unenthusiastically. "You know you are! You want to go see this friend you haven't seen in months! Ne, don't you?" Muraki slowly turned to look at the bubbly teen smiling as he swayed to the current tune on the radio. "Did I tell you that?" He asked as if he'd become senile. Yuki laughed. "That has never been the point, Monki-chan." He said excitedly before remembering he had soup on the stove.

"Yuki?" Muraki asked following the flighty boy into the kitchen. He leaned against the doorframe waiting for an answer. "Okay, okay, I was dying to know what happened. So I asked my friends at the brothel. They most certainly gave an animated summary. Did you and Mibu-san really ever sleep together?" Yuki asked covering his folly quickly. Muraki adjusted his glasses fixing the boy with a glare.

Yuki turned back to his food stirring it quietly. "Um…you know, I was thinking that we could eat outside today. We should visit a park. Ne, don't you think?" he asked becoming weary of the cold stare on his back. "I suppose." Muraki stated as if his previous suspicions were never there. However he seemed pleased, which confused Yuki immensely. He turned to look at Muraki just as the doctor turned to leave. Whatever he was going to say died before reaching his lips and he shuddered returning to his pot.

•••••••••

"Muraki-sensei, can we get a kite? The weather is quite gracious for giving such adelicious breeze!" Yuki chattered animatedly as he watched the sky. "It's just a little cold, but I think the kite will do okay."

"Why don't we wait till it gets warm." Muraki answered leaning against the bench he was sitting on. They both watched the sakuras, as they seemed to have reached an early blooming. "Hey if it snows we should start a fire again. Then we can get some hot cocoa. I've been wanting to try a few American "by the fireside" dishes. Oh, and we need to go grocery shopping. I've already begun the list. If there's something you want just tell me and I'll write it down." Yuki rambled on, oblivious to his inattention to normal breathing. He was an expert in making one breath last through his monologues.

"Oh, Muraki, what time is it?" He asked, as Muraki was oddly quiet.

"Almost two." he answered.

"Hiiya! Oh gosh we're late!" Yuki said jumping up. "Let's get going!" He said grabbing Muraki's hand. "I can't believe I've missed a whole hour with my friends!" He cried, seemingly deeply affected.

•••••••••

Muraki felt nervous the closer they got to the brothel, despite Yuki's tugging and pulling, and annoying—albeit cute—antics. He had barely been able to believe it when the boy told him he knew someone who worked at KoKaRou—what were the odds? But he did, and since this was an opportunity to see Oriya again, he went along with it. He had told Yuki only that he had an old friend at KoKakuRou as well.

Yuki, ironically, had found this hilarious. But the closer they got, the more worried Sensei became. How would his old friend react to his reappearance? What would Oriya say? Had Oriya missed him? He dropped off Yuki in the brothel's common room, after being assured that the boy knew where he was going and who he was looking for, and could take care of himself. Odd of him to be worried, perhaps, but this WAS a brothel, and Muraki wasn't sure that the customers would hesitate to take advantage of the attractive lad.

He threaded his way through the back halls until he reached Oriya's door. This was the moment of truth. He smoothed his jacket nervously, than knocked on the door. "Come in." That voice, the smooth, deep silk of it, sent shivers up Muraki's spine. He bit his lip, shoved his control into place, and entered. Oriya had his back to Muraki, and was carefully brushing out his long, silken hair. Muraki had to smile a little, as the familiar smells of incense and tobacco combined started to put him at ease.

Lithe and graceful in his perfect kimono, Oriya looked beautiful beyond words, a stunningly perfect doll. He looked so perfectly serene, a still pond or a cold mountaintop, distant and beautiful, removed from the world. Muraki longed to touch him, to break through that control, to destroy him and to hold him and keep him safe from the world. Such a mixture of emotion, while normal for the errant sorcerer, still bothered Muraki. He didn't like the fact that Oriya had the power to make him feel this much.

He moved silently across the floor, a predator making his way across open ground. He sat on the bed opposite Oriya, and took the brush from his friend, all in one fluid motion. The weight of it in his hand steadied him, brought old memories to fore. He carefully took Oriya's hair in his hands, slowly and patiently working out the few knots in the curtain of heavy brown silk. He had seen Oriya tense as he sat down, but his friend spoke only now, voice calm and flat.

"You were gone so long. I thought you dead."

"Did you think I would die so easily?"

"I was under the impression you meant to." Muraki didn't answer that, perhaps because he had no answer to give. He continued to comb Oriya's hair slowly, the task soothing his frayed nerves. It seemed to heal something deep within him, just being allowed to bask in the peace of Oriya's presence. Oriya seemed to sense it to, because the tension slowly drained from his muscles and he allowed himself to lean back on Muraki.

"Did you…" Muraki started. "I missed you." Oriya finished. Silence took his reign back again. For a moment, they both sat in mutual contemplation. "I took in a boy." Muraki said quietly. Oriya glanced up at him, his eyes wide. Muraki couldn't help but grin. It was startling to see Oriya startled, but also immensely charming. He wanted to lean over and kiss that look away, but he wasn't sure what kind of mood his friend was in. Oriya was the one person Muraki had learned long ago not to push.

"Tell me about him." Muraki did. He told anecdotes, stories—the fond tone of his voice betraying more to Oriya than any of those stories did. Oriya smiled, but sadly, distantly. He had never heard Muraki speak like this.

(AN: Yay, I contributed this sentence to Kage Chikara's wonderful work!) "I had a meeting today as well." Muraki began again on something that seemed to have nothing to do with his previous previous tellings. "This new arrangement seems to have come at the most opportune of times."

"What are your plans?"

Muraki opened his mouth, when an incessant pounding on the door made them both jerk away from each other quickly. Oriya's lips quirked up in a smile. "Guess I'm about to meet the boy."

T.B.C.

I really hope that this chapter has come out less confusing then it was originally. I also hope that you liked it. I must profusely thank Kage-sama for writing the ending to this chapter. I couldn't do it with out her! And thank you Karma-chan! Thank you so much! Please keep reviewing and I'll make sure to keep writing. Thank you!

Okay, just so you know, my Japanese is rusty if not non-existent and my French is barely better. What these various phrases are supposed to say (but you might not want to take my word for it) is:

1 Monkey-Doctor (I used this cause it was the closest to Muki-chan)

2 How Rude! How he insults me!

3 Mother (Although this is generally used when you're actually speaking to your mother we all should know by now that Yuki isn't a traditional character.)

Shrenee