Somebody put me together.

Tsukushi eventually roused herself from her stupor enough to pull on a pair of pajamas, and settle more comfortably into bed. Even the cheerful sunlight that began its slow creep across her room failed to lighten her dark mood. At some point, a maid came by, bringing a breakfast tray—plainly sent by Rui. Still, this nourishment went untouched.

-----

"Hey Working Girl!" The door shot open, quite unexpectedly, without even a preliminary knock, causing Tsukushi to startle violently. She wasn't sure which was more shocking, the stridently cheerful tone of the speakers, or the totally unexpected appearance of Soujiro and Akira in this secluded place. She hadn't even time to recover from her initial shock, before the two boys entered the room and spoke again.

"Yo Makino!" Soujiro smiled cheerily, as he nonchalantly settled himself on the bed on Tsukushi's left. "Congratulations!"

"We're so proud." Akira interrupted, as he sat on Tsukushi's right, "Our little girl is finally a woman!"

"Wha.. . ?" Tsukushi could only gape in utter shock and embarrassment, as her expressive face flamed a particularly bloody shade of crimson. Swiveling her head from one grinning boy to the other, she simply could not find words for this situation. At last, she managed to pull herself together enough to glare weakly at Akira, and demand, "Wha. . . What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you!" Soujiro chirped from behind her.

"Duh." Akira couldn't resist emphasizing the obvious.

"But. . . but. . ." Tsukushi could only sputter in disbelief. This was soo embarrassing.

"So, . . . How was he?" Soujiro jumped straight to the point.

"Yeah, tell us. . . Did Shizuka break him in well? Come on, we've got money riding on it!"

"I think you should have asked me instead." Soujiro took over the patter, "I could teach you so much more than Rui."

"Really, he could." Akira agreed, "If you need any pointers, Soujiro's the one you should talk to. Though, there's some tricks I know better than Soujiro, if I do say so myself."

Tsukushi couldn't decide whether to be horrified, embarrassed, amused, or some combination of the three, at the flow of words that passed over her head. She couldn't even stop to think about how the boys knew, why they were here, or who told them to come. It was all she could do to keep her fiery blush from burning her alive. Ah, but was it really worth fighting? Tsukushi let an unfamiliar sensation wash over her. It had been so long since she'd wanted to laugh that she could hardly remember what it felt like. . So she was totally unprepared for the bubble of laughter that rose in her throat as she gave up and shouted at the two boys, "Perverts! You can't just walk in here like that! What the hell is wrong with you? "

"Why not?" Akira blinked. He hadn't thought Soujiro's so-called plan would work. "Be silly, make her laugh," he'd said, "or make her angry. She won't talk to us otherwise. She doesn't take us seriously anyway." "But we need to be serious too." Akira had protested. "After we distract her.. . we've got to play it just right, otherwise—you know her—she'll just clam up on us. . ." "You call that a plan? That's really half-assed," had been his assertion. But, apparently he'd been wrong. Huh. Oh well, now it was time to see if the rest of the conversation would go as planned.

"Because. . . " Tsukushi stammered.. . ."This is serious." She looked back down at her hands. "I. . . umm. . I. . ." She still couldn't manage to say the words. Not that it mattered. They knew just what she'd done.

"We know." Akira reached out and took one of her hands, while Soujiro grabbed the other. "Why do you think we're here?"

"Rui called us."

"We were worried about you, you know."

"Rui. . . called you?" Tsukushi blinked in surprise.

"Umm.. . yeah." Akira acknowledged.

"Hey, who else is the guy going to ask for help?"

"This is so embarrassing" Tsukushi muttered again, mostly to herself.

"What's to be embarrassed about?" Soujiro asked, "Were you really that bad? Perhaps you'd like a second opinion?"

"Pervert!"

"No, I'm serious. . . well. . sort of.. . " Soujiro paused, "Look, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with sex. I personally think it's a lot of fun. Right, Akira?"

"Yeah!"

"So, was it that bad?"

"Umm. .."

"It felt good, right?" Soujiro persisted, despite Tsukushi's furious blushing.

". . . yeah. . " Tsukushi admitted finally in a very small voice.

"Good. Are you sore?"

"What?!" Tsukushi couldn't believe she was having this conversation. "You're missing the point!"

"What was the point again?" Soujiro turned to Akira.

"Tsukasa." The name had to be said eventually.

"Of course!"

"I betrayed him." Tsukushi muttered, looking like she was about to start crying again.

"Oh come on! It's not that bad!" Akira cajoled, "My last three girlfriends were married, it's not that big a deal."

"Maybe not for you." Tsukushi's tone was dark. "But it meant so much to him. . . to me. . .to us. . ."

"Look at it this way, " Soujiro tried to be helpful, "It's pretty pathetic when two virgins are fumbling around for the first time. I mean really, it's so much better if at least one of you knows what they're doing. So think of this more as a present for when Tsukasa regains his memory. Practice on Rui now, and later, you can teach Tsukasa." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "I'm sure that boy needs all the help he can get!"

"Or, if you want, We'll help you practice, instead." Akira wiggled an eyebrow suggestively

"You two are impossible!" Tsukushi spluttered. But she had to admit, she was feeling less depressed. Now, she merely wanted to kill somebody. These two jokers would do fine. How could they just sit there so calmly and discuss her suddenly extant sex life like it was no big deal? They knew what it meant to her! But here they were blithely ignoring everything in favor of juvenile innuendo. At least they weren't casting blame, though. She would almost have expected them to be wearing the expressions of shock and dismay that she'd last seen them with, what seemed an eternity ago, when they'd walked in on her and Rui in her apartment. Little did Tsukushi know that they were saving their disapproval and castigation for Rui—who, as the experienced one. . .should have known better.

"No," Akira looked thoughtful, "We're, well, I'm merely practical."

"What's done is done. You may as well make the best of. it" Soujiro interrupted.

"And speaking of which. . . "

"We have a serious question. . "

"So please listen. . ."

"Because it's important. . ."

"Umm. . . ?" Tsukushi was unprepared for this sudden shift into gravity, as Akira, still holding onto her hand turned to look into her eyes, and asked her a question she'd never expected to be asked by this pair of men.

"Tsukushi. Was Rui wearing a condom?"

"What!?!" Tsukushi screeched. Breaking her eyes away from Akira's gaze, she appealed mutely to Soujiro, as if to ask if the other boy was serious.

"You heard him." Soujiro replied levelly, "Come on, girl. It's important. Unless you're on birth control?" he asked like he expected a negative reply to that question. Tsukushi was too damned innocent to think of such things. But as experienced playboys, Soujiro and Akira knew the critical importance of certain precautions Hell, with their money and family stature, the last thing they needed was to face the scandal of paternity suits. Presumably, Rui was equally clueful, but they wanted to make sure. And, also to try to impart a bit of awareness to Tsukushi. After all, someone had to, and they doubted anyone else was up to the task of educating the girl.

Tsukushi was struck by the boys' solemn tones and grave eyes. Obediently, she thought back to last night's events, though the tide of embarrassment once more colored her cheeks pink and she averted her eyes once more from the intense stares of the men surrounding her. Damnit, she'd been trying to forget what had happened, and now they were making her focus on it? Gah!

Eventually, she raised her eyes back up to meet Akira's gaze, and gave a tight little nod.

"Are you sure?"

"What?! Why don't you just ask him if you don't trust me? I can't believe you guys!" As if it wasn't humiliating enough being quizzed about such intimate details by these two—now they had to doubt her memory as well?

"Hey, calm down." Akira raised his hands defensively, "We had to make sure. You're the one who needs to worry about it!" Over Tsukushi's head, he added to Soujiro, "Told you so—That boy was prepared!" It only fueled his theory that Rui had intentionally (whether consciously or subconsciously) meant for this to happen.

Soujiro merely shrugged, unconvinced, and smiled back down at Tsukushi. "Well then, everything should be ok, no permanent damage done."

"No permanent damage!?!" Tsukushi shrilled, dumbfounded.

"One little useless social construct." Soujiro amended with a shrug. "Come on, you're feeling better now, right?"

Tsukushi nodded slowly, "A little."

"Good." Akira grinned, "That means it's time to get your stuff packed."

"Packed? Where are we going?"

"Back to Shigeru's."

"Huh?"

"Everyone's there."

"Everyone?" Tsukushi stammered, panicked at the thought.

"Yup!" Soujiro continued, obliviously, "It's getting pretty crazy. . ." he declined to elaborate, however. Really, Tsukushi would find out about Tsukasa's newfound crush on Sakurako soon enough anyway.

"I'm not going." Tsukushi balked.

"Yes. You are." Akira stood and pulled her to her feet. "Now, what do you want to wear?" He turned where Soujiro was already digging through her clothes. . .

Tsukushi couldn't help but smile as the two boys ordered her around with practical efficiency. She couldn't imagine what she would have done without friends like these. Sure, they were utterly insane by her standards, but right now, a dose of their blithe insanity was just what she needed. Impulsively, she hugged each of them, as the three prepared to leave.

"Thanks, you guys." She murmured, as Akira took her arm and led her from her room.

"Our pleasure." Soujiro ruffled her hair affectionately, and went off to scare up Rui from wherever that boy had hidden himself. No doubt he and Akira were going to have a long chat with Rui later today, but right now it was time to rejoin the others at Shigeru's retreat.

It was going to be a fascinating weekend. Of that there could be no doubt.

Soujiro almost couldn't wait to watch the fireworks begin.

To be continued.