Shimazaki hadn't exactly been expecting Toshi to roll out the red carpet…but a 'hi' would have been nice.

Or even a 'fuck off' or 'go die' or 'lay down in the middle of the highway and wait for a semi to drive by'. Anything would have been better than the silence he was getting right now. The silence on his good side. The other side was nothing but ringing, a lot of ringing. It hadn't gotten any better, or worse, but it still wasn't the kind of thing that he could live with. Not that he had to live with it. He was here to get it fixed after all.

Right after he said 'hi' to Toshi.

"Toshi? Hey, Toshi? Toshi? Can you hear me?" asked Shimazaki. He waved his hand in front of Toshi's face. They just pulled their book closer to their face. They hadn't said a word since he'd teleported into their room…Toshi's room? They were laying diagonal across the bed. It smelled like them in here. Weed, Peace's, dirt, the combined smell of whatever flowers Toshi had been growing…books…Toshi's deodorant. The whole room smelled completely and totally like them.

He hadn't been in this room before.

"Toshi? Hey, Toshi?" asked Shimazaki. They had moved again, after he'd left. This was their room totally and completely…but this was his room too, right? Toshi hadn't been serious about breaking up with him, right? The thing with Mob hadn't seemed like the sort if thing that was worth breaking up with someone over. That hadn't seemed like it was something worth it…and anyway if Toshi had wanted to break up with him then they would have thrown him out the minute he teleported into the room.

He would have let them, too.

"Toshi? If you said something say it to this side. I'm deaf in the other ear now. Crazy story, well not crazy, more like stupid. So get this, it's three in the morning or something and Suzuki's girlfriend decides to go out on a night walk or whatever and I go to follow her and, get this, someone shoots right next to my ear at point blank range. Can you believe that?" said Shimazaki. Toshi growled and then put their book directly in front of their face, so close that they were breathing on it. If he really focused he could sense the air leaving their lungs, going up their throat, out their sinuses, hitting the book…he could even sort of hear it if he got closer.

They didn't let him get any closer.

"Leave me alone." Said Minegishi, raising a leg and pressing it right against Ryou's sternum. They'd done their best to ignore him but he just wouldn't stop. He wasn't going to stop until they spoke to him…which they had…so he'd won.

Good. Maybe he would be done with this, now.

"Toshi! Ok, so you can hear me. Anyway all I can hear out of this ear is this ringing-" said Shimazaki

"So go see Fukuda if it's such a big problem. Isn't that why Mob let you come back?" asked Minegishi. They kept their book in front of their face. They didn't trust their eyes right now. They didn't trust themselves to look at him and not feel…something. They hated themselves for loving him. They hate themselves for letting this happen. They hated themselves for almost…almost liking him being back…they didn't, they liked nothing about this situation. This was the last thing that they wanted.

They pressed their leg harder into his stomach. He stopped trying to sit beside them.

"Probably. I don't know, I haven't seen her yet….I haven't seen anything yet." Said Shimazaki. He smiled. They didn't smile back. They didn't even notice. It was like they were trying to crawl right into their book. He wondered if there was room for him in there…probably not. He didn't dare get any closer. Toshi didn't want him any closer, he could tell. The foot in his stomach had been pretty clear.

He didn't get any closer. He wanted to but he didn't.

"It's so funny I forgot to laugh." Said Minegishi

"Well you can laugh now, if you want." Said Shimazaki

"Pass. There's nothing to laugh at here." Said Minegishi

"I'm half deaf, some people would find that pretty fucking hilarious." Said Shimazaki

"Well, Ryou, I'm not one of those people." Said Minegishi

"Aw, you really do care." Said Shimazaki

"No, I don't…and anyway if you can hear a ringing then you're not deaf. You just have tinnitus or something. Go and see Fukuda. Leave me alone, I'm reading." Said Minegishi

"Reading what?" asked Shimazaki

"Here, you tell me." said Minegishi as they handed him their book. He held it in his hands and ran his fingers across the page and spine. He frowned as he felt his way around, eventually handing them their book back once he realized that there was no way in hell he could possibly read it. That had been mean spirited, maybe even cruel, but he'd fucked Mob so it didn't matter. Nothing that they had done could even come close to what he had done…how he had broken their trust…how he had gotten them to love him and just…just…

They opened their book back up and looked down.

"Go see Fukuda, Ryou, before the tinnitus gets any worse." Said Minegishi

"Alright, alright, I'll go. But when I come back can we-" said Shimazaki. They had a lot of shit to talk about. He had some heavy duty kowtowing to do. He should have made sure that Toshi knew. He was sorry that he'd kept it from them, not sorry that he'd done it, but he was sorry that he hadn't been completely transparent with them. Toshi hated secrets and lies…and he hadn't meant to keep secrets, and he had never lied either…

Wasn't that what they, what everyone, wanted more than anything else? The truth?

"Just go." Said Minegishi. They had no interest in anything with him. Not now, maybe not ever. If he thought that they were going to be doing anything in the near or far future then he had another thing coming.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Said Shimazaki before he teleported away. Normally he would have gone where he wasn't wanted…but these weren't normal times. Toshi was pissed. Not their usual level of pissed, no, Toshi was really pissed…and some of it made sense. Not all but some. He could fix this, though. He needed to fix this. He needed Toshi…no, they hated that. He wanted to be with Toshi. He wanted Toshi to love him again…to take him back if they had been serious about breaking up with him…but they couldn't have been. They had no reason to be. He had never lied to them, that was their big thing, and he hadn't lied by omission either…well he kind of had…but he had clearly said that he would have been into Mob when she got older. She was damn near perfect aside from her habit of ignoring people…but Toshi didn't see it that way and what Toshi wanted mattered. Maybe more than what he wanted…maybe they mattered more than him. Maybe he'd put himself first too often…well he could fix that.

Right after Fukuda fixed him up.

If he would….of course he would have. Mob had told him to. There was no love lost between him and Fukuda, if anything he damn near hated the guy, but he was at least smart enough to listen to the girl who signed his checks…and also could have crushed him like a bug if she had wanted to. In the half second it had taken him to teleport he had passed over Mob's house…there she was. Her aura was loud as ever….he passed over her. He would talk to her later…if she even wanted to talk…but he could worry about that later. He'd gotten distracted in that half second and landed not where he had wanted to, beside Fukuda, but instead on top of him.

Not the place he wanted to be.

"What the hell?!" asked Fukuda as he pushed Shimazaki off of him. Shimazaki, surprisingly, rolled right off of him…and laid down beside him on the bed. Fukuda tried to push him away but it was like trying to push a wall. His aura was active…of course it was. Of course he was going to act like a child and root himself in place like that…like more than a child. Sho was an actual child and he didn't even pull things like this.

"What the hell, me? What the hell, you? Taking up the whole bed….really? And when you knew I was coming?" asked Shimazaki with a laugh. At least something never changed. Bothering Fukuda, tormenting him, was never not going to be fun. It was almost enough to get his mind off of Toshi…almost.

"What the….this is my bed! Can't you use the door like everyone else?" asked Fukuda

"What? Sorry, I can't really hear out of this ear. Just a loud ringing. Toshi says that it's tinnitus but I think that I'm going deaf. Your medical opinion?" asked Shimazaki

"My opinion of you…hasn't changed. Now hold still." Said Fukuda. He didn't want to have to do this but he had no choice. Shigeko had told him to and, of course, he had no choice in the matter. Of course she would want to help out her…whatever she was calling him. Of course Shimazaki would have had no choice but to come running when she called for him….Fukuda knew that feeling….

He had sympathy for Shimazaki Ryou.

He needed a bath, badly. A long one. In boiling hot water….or hand sanitizer. Anything to get rid of this feeling, this filthy feeling that clung to him. Sympathy of Shimazaki Ryou? What was the matter with him? Shimazaki was a terrible person. Even without everything that had happened with Shigeko he was still a terrible person. He didn't deserve Fukuda's sympathy…but he still got it. After all it was impossible to say 'no' when Suzuki…when any of them, asked something of you.

He'd been there before. It wasn't a good place to be.

"There, you're done. Now get out." Said Fukuda as he finished. He could sympathize with Shimazaki, that didn't mean that they were best friends now or even friends at all. Shimazaki was still a terrible excuse for a human being. He had killed people, with his own two hands not in the way that Fukuda had killed people, not to mention the fact that Shigeko wasn't the first time he'd gone after the boss's daughter. The boss's very young daughter…though Shigeko could make her own decisions. She made them all the time and to hell with everyone else. What they wanted or needed or…or what was best for them….

He could be sympathetic towards someone and still hate them, he decided.

"I can hear! I can hear! Oh my God, you won't believe how good it is to hear the sound of your voice!" said Shimazaki as he tested his formally bad, nearly deafened, or maybe just tinnitus ridden ear. Nothing. No more ringing. He was cured! He could have kissed Fukuda if the thought hadn't made him sick to his stomach….but Fukuda could probably fix that now that he thought about it.

"I wish I could say the same." Said Fukuda

"You know, I could kiss you right now." said Shimazaki, turning to face Fukuda. He sort of meant it. If he had to then he would have, it was just fun watching Fukuda squirm…and listening to him squirm, too. Damn, his bedding was rustly. How did he sleep like this? Maybe that was why he was such an asshole all the time, sleep deprivation…he'd see what Toshi thought of his theory…that is if they were up to speaking to him.

Of course they were.

"Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't." said Fukuda, scooting away until he was practically hanging over the edge of the bed. He couldn't have thought of anything worse than kissing Shimazaki. Even kissing Suzuki would have been preferable.

"You sure? One time only offer." Said Shimazaki. Fukuda kept on squirming. God, Toshi would have gotten such the kick out of this.

"Yes, I'm sure. Can you leave now?" said Fukuda

"Aww, I thought we could hang out. Trade stories, listen to music, saw off stop signs, drown some fish, fun shit like that." Said Shimazaki

"Drown some…what? No, no. You have to leave now. I did what I had to do and now there's no reason for you to stick around. So leave." Said Fukuda

"You sure? We never hang out, you and I. Why is that?" asked Shimazaki

"Because I don't like you, nobody likes you. Nobody but Shigeko and I don't think that she would be happy to know that you just propositioned me." said Fukuda. Nuclear option…one that he may have had to take. Or not. Immediately Shimazaki scooted away from him….but he didn't leave. He still took up the other side of the bed like he owned the place, like he was Suzuki or something…in some ways this was worse. At least he knew where he stood with Suzuki…

Or he had, anyway.

"Mob's not like that. She never really did the jealousy thing…that's me. That might have been what killed it, actually. What killed it between me and Mob, I mean, not between me and Toshi. I have no idea what's going on with me and Toshi. I mean they can't actually be done with me. If they had been then they would have tried to kill me or something. I know them." Said Shimazaki, running a hand through his hair. Toshi, Toshi, Toshi. It was like a broken record was going around and around in his mind, spinning. It spun for Toshi….Mob too, but mostly Toshi

He had to find a way to fix this.

"How about you go and tell them that, not me? I don't want to hear about your relationship problems. I don't even want you here at all." Said Fukuda. That earned him a shove off the bed. There was a shift in the energy around him…and then Shimazaki was standing over him….he had forgotten how much bigger Shimazaki was than him. How much more powerful…and Suzuki was a world away…there wasn't anyone who could have helped him if he had needed it….

He was truly alone.

"Well that makes two of us." Said Shimazaki before he leaned down, kissed Fukuda, and teleported away. Toshi was going to get such the kick out of that. He knew them. He knew what made them smile, laugh even, or he would have just settled with them taking their face out of their book for five seconds and looking at him. He was there. He was real. He wasn't….he was there, that was what mattered, and Toshi knew not to ignore him.

Unless they were doing it on purpose.

"Go away, Ryou." Said Minegishi, picking their book back up. They had read this same page maybe fifty times or more already…and they had no idea what was even happening. Well of course they didn't, how could they with Ryou popping in every two seconds? He could hear now, couldn't he? He should have known that they wanted to be alone.

They'd said it as plainly as they could.

"Toshi, you'll never guess what I just did." Said Shimazaki

"Decided to renounce your ways and to spend the remainder of your life in a temple, one of those silent ones far away in the mountains?" asked Minegishi

"Fuck no, that sounds like hell on Earth. I just-" said Shimazaki

"Ryou, I don't care." Said Minegishi. They glanced up from their book…his face had fallen. It looked like someone had kicked a puppy…like they'd kicked a puppy…damn it.

"But you can tell me anyway, if it'll shut you up faster." Said Minegishi. They hated themselves for loving him, for caring about him, for wanting to wipe that expression off of his face…fucking Ryou.

"I just kissed Fukuda." Said Shimazaki. Just as he predicted Toshi laughed. A quick laugh, one that they hid behind their hand, but a laugh nonetheless. Good. He had missed the sound of their laughter…of their voice…even the way their hair rustled against their pillow when they shook their head.

He'd missed Toshi more than anyone else in the entire world.

"Ryou…why? What possessed you to…just…why?" asked Minegishi, trying their best not to laugh. It was just so absurd, plus they'd been smoking earlier. This whole thing was just so…so…Ryou. They had missed this, the absurdity of him, the way he always managed to surprise them…fucking Ryou.

"Because I knew you'd get a kick out of it, and you did." Said Shimazaki. There. That was progress, right? That meant that they still wanted to be with him…right? They must have…he could have asked…but he was afraid to ask. He hated fear, it was boring unless someone else was feeling it, and…and maybe he was getting boring or…or something. Or maybe he was just turning into a coward or…or something…something that he didn't like.

Something that Toshi didn't like, either.

"Yeah I guess I did…ok, you made me laugh. Now go. I have reading to do." Said Minegishi picking their book up again.

"Alright, I'll just come back whenever you're done with that book. I've got a shit ton of unpacking to do and-" said Shimazaki. He really did have a lot to unpack, but Toshi could help. He didn't need the help but it was…was nice…..

"No." said Minegishi, in a tone that they hoped left no room for discussion. They had seen the boxes. They knew what he had been planning to do…but it wasn't going to happen. Just being near him…just now…this was too much. They didn't know if they were going to laugh or cry or kill them or…or whatever. They weren't up for this and for the first time in his life…for the first time he…

He needed to listen to them.

"No, I'm pretty sure that I do. Unless I wound up with the wrong boxes or something." Said Shimazaki

"No, I meant that you're not staying here. I don't care where you go or what you do but you can't stay in this room with me. End of discussion. I can't even look at your right now let alone share a bed with you." said Minegishi

"I can sleep on the floor, then." Said Shimazaki. He heard Toshi slam their book shut…not the suggestion to make…bit it was a pretty damn good compromise. He knew that Toshi didn't want to share a bed with him, in any way, and he could live with that. He just needed to be near them, that was all….if he could just be near him then he was going to be…then it was all going to be…better.

"Ryou. No." said Minegishi. They held aural contact with him. They were serious. Either he went or they went. That was how it was going to be. He held aural contact with them…but then broke it.

"Sure thing, Toshi, whatever you're comfortable with." Said Shimazaki before he teleported away. Toshi didn't want him in their room…it hurt, of course it hurt, and…and he didn't know when it would stop hurting…but he had to put them first. That was what they wanted. He had to show them how much they meant to him and that meant…that meant doing what they asked…even if it hurt…

He hadn't exactly expected them to roll out the red carpet, or any kind of carpet since red meant nothing to him, be he hadn't expected to get kicked out.