DOUBLE STORY

My apologies for taking so long to update! I meant to upload this last week, but the site wouldn't let me upload it for some reason and I kept getting errors. Ergh. Anyway, finally managed to upload it!

So here's chapter 6 - a bit shorter than the previous chapters because I was going through a writer's slump when I wrote this (as well as having a tonne of other things on my mind...)

Chapter 6

Oshitari frowned across the table at Suzume. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your place further from here than Atobe's?"

"It is," she answered placidly, taking a bite of the fish on her plate.

"Then… How is it that you were here before us?"

"I flew."

He rolled his eyes. "Really."

"Was there some reason you wanted to get away from home so badly, Suzume?" asked Atobe suddenly.

Suzume gave him a wry look. "You know me too well. Yuushi, pass me the tartar sauce, will you? Thanks." She dipped another piece of fish into the sauce before saying simply, "My aunts are visiting today."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. He remembered some of her aunts vaguely. "I see."

"What's wrong with that?" Oshitari asked.

"They're very very keen on me getting married."

Oshitari smothered a laugh as he finished his own food and pushed his plate away.

She sighed and shook her head. "They mean well, but it's so tiresome. And they're beginning to start thinking of playing matchmaker already…"

"Oh?" A grin spread across Oshitari's face. "Who are they thinking of setting you up with?" He glanced at Atobe, who returned the look with one that said 'shut up, you' and turned away to stare at some invisible point on the far wall.

"A few people," she said nonchalantly.

"Who? I'm curious," persisted Oshitari.

Atobe didn't know if he wanted to know who her aunts were intending to set her up with. He wasn't entirely keen on hearing which other man would be her potential husband. If only that idiot Oshitari would shut up and let things be.

She reached for her drink and waved one hand in a slightly irritated manner. "Oh, I can't remember all their names. There was a Nagasawa Takeshi…"

Nagasawa? Atobe had heard the name before. Had met the man in fact. Personable fellow, charming to women. I'll kill him.

"… And Aoki something or other…"

Aoki Kenta. Son of shipping magnate Aoki Tsuyoshi. Atobe hadn't met him before, but he'd heard of the man. The guy liked yachting and fishing out at sea, it seemed.

I hope he drowns at sea.

"I can't remember the other names they threw at me," said Suzume. "But they make it sound like half the well-to-do and rich young men in Japan are single and available and just waiting for me."

"No mention of an Atobe in that list of 'well-to-do and rich young men'?" joked Oshitari.

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Suzume.

Atobe's head jerked up ever so slightly. Suzume didn't appear to have seen it, but Oshitari saw it and he revelled in the amusement.

One look at Oshitari's face told Suzume he was baiting her. Before he could say anything else, she said, "They mentioned a certain Oshitari too. My Aunt Akiko says she hears her friend Oshitari Juri's nephew is still single and an absolute hunk."

Oshitari felt two steely blue eyes boring holes into the side of his head. He began to regret the topic somewhat.

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The garden was quiet, the loudest sounds being only the muted bubbling of pond water and the occasional faint rustling of leaves. Koi of various colours – red and white, gold and black, brown, silver – swam in the large pond. Fat goldfish with translucent, trailing fins scurried in and out between the bigger fish. A stronger breeze blew and a wind chime tinkled gently somewhere, its musical notes adding to the peace and beauty of the place.

Into this well of tranquillity Tezuka had escaped on arrival at home after lunch, but his mind was far from calm. It was a roaring thunderstorm in his head.

What – what had he gotten himself into? What had he done? And why had he done that? This was horrible. Too sudden, too unplanned. What was he supposed to do? What in the world had made him ask her out like that?

It wasn't like he hadn't gone out with Yumi alone before; he had – almost as often as Fuji had in recent years. But he was acutely aware that this time it was different. He had known it from the instant the question came out of his mouth. There had been a definite intention there when he asked the question. It wasn't a 'normal' outing by any means. He acknowledged desolately that he had let that much show in his voice. Maybe in his face as well. He wasn't sure.

Yumi had probably caught that impression anyway. He was sure she had. It was in the surprise that was written all over her face when he asked her.

Tezuka focussed his gaze on a sleek white koi with striking black and red markings. The fish's unhurried, carefree movements were usually calming to him. It did help – a little. But he was still a very confused man. And he didn't really like it. He was used to being in control of himself. He was not used to feeling confused and uncertain. Think. He needed to calm down and think.

He wasn't sure what he was to do. He had asked her out. Right. Where was he going to take her then? He hadn't the faintest idea. And what was he going to do – or say?

How he wished Oishi wasn't busy with his medical studies. He could have used the advice at the moment. He just couldn't bring himself to disturb his friend, who was nearing the end of his long years of training and studying. At times like this he wished he was as most people seemed to think him – all-knowing and always in control. But he wasn't. He was fallible. He could be as uncertain and confused as much as the next person. He just hid it better. And regained control of himself faster – sometimes.

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Yumi stared blankly at the television whilst her cousins played with some toys nearby. His question kept replaying itself in her mind: Can you go out for dinner tonight? With me.

The pragmatic half of her mind reiterated that it wasn't an unusual occurrence, but was forced to admit that the way he'd asked it was certainly out of the ordinary. The romantic half wandered from thought to thought in a flustered manner at the recollection of his tone of voice and the look in his eyes. All in all, she felt a little unnerved, with a tinge of wonder. She was also happy though. The prospect of spending time with Tezuka usually raised her spirits a little, and this was no different in that sense.

She turned to glance at the clock on the wall. Four-fifteen. He'd said he'd come for her at seven. Work or no, she was turning Riku and Aiko over to her sister just before six. Their aunt would pick them up at around eight anyway. Two hours of watching the kid cousins wouldn't do her any harm.

Riku came up to her and tugged at her sleeve, asking for some water. She got up and went to the kitchen to get some. Even as she poured some water into a cup, she felt she was doing it rather robotically, only half concentrating. She just kept mulling over Tezuka's words and expression. They made her curious.

Her romantic side whispered a possible explanation, but her practical side always argued with it. She supposed it was good to be practical in cases like these, otherwise she might end up frantic with the thrill of daydreams (that might not actually become real), and be about as much use as one of those female anime characters who went around squealing with hearts in their eyes. Better to be pragmatic than idiotic, she figured, setting down the flask of water and closing it. She wondered if there would ever be a time when her dreamy side would be free to indulge in a more solid reality rather than just things imagined.

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The cinema was full with the weekend crowd. Suzume tried to edge her way to a place where she could see the movie schedules for the day without being squashed or having to crane her neck too much. She was relatively tall for a woman, but there were many people taller than she was in that mass of moviegoers.

Pity Oshitari had left for a date – she could have used his height and eyes to help her see the schedules. (And she would have loved to meet this girl he was seeing. She sounded interesting.) Atobe didn't look like he was going to be any help; he just looked a bit dazed at being stuck in the crowd. Obviously he rarely went to normal screenings at the cinema. But it didn't matter. She was just glad to have an excuse to stay out of the house. When Oshitari had called, she had scuttled back to the room where her relations were with her mother, made up some apology and excuse about having a prior appointment with friends that she'd forgotten about and had made a rapid exit. She certainly didn't plan on going home until late at night.

After a bit of squeezing and searching, she found a more convenient angle from which to view the scrolling movie times on the board. Tiptoeing a little, she managed to see over the many heads and read the titles towards the bottom of the board. Her eyes scanned the list.

Hm… Which one to see? That one's supposed to be good, but I think it'll be hard to get seats, looking at this crowd… What did Yuushi say about that one? Can't remember if he rated it three or four stars… Which one, which one…

A hand grabbed her arm and nearly unbalanced her from her position on tiptoe.

"Keigo!"

"Don't run off like that!" he said angrily. "I turn my back on you for three seconds and you disappear. At least tell me when you're going elsewhere!"

"What are you so angry about?" she asked. "I didn't 'run off' anywhere. I just wanted to find a better place so I could see the schedules more clearly. Do you mind letting go of my arm now?"

He ignored her last question. "You should have told me! Damn it, do you know how worried I was? How am I supposed to know what happened to you? I had to look all over for you!"

Suzume looked at him more carefully and noticed that his hair was a little dishevelled, and his breathing was slightly ragged. Her irritation melted. He really was worried about me. Then she frowned slightly. Just how rarely did he come to cinemas? Sure, he was rich. But so was she and she didn't stay away from public areas. It wasn't logically possible for her to get lost so easily in the cinema foyer. There wasn't much that could happen to her either in such a crowded place, apart from getting her wallet stolen or something. Talk about paranoia…

"I'm fine, Keigo. Sorry I didn't tell you – I didn't think you'd get so upset over it. But I'm fine, see?"

He studied her, as if trying to satisfy himself that she was indeed all right. Releasing her arm, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked up at the display boards. After a few moments of silence, he said, "So what have you decided on?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe we'd watch that one." She pointed up at the topmost title. "Yuushi said it's good, but I have a feeling half the people here today are going to watch that. It'll be hard to get decent seats." She gestured to the long lines at the ticket counters.

"That line's a lot shorter than the rest," said Atobe, nodding in the direction of a queue to the far left.

"That's because the tickets there are almost twice the normal amount," Suzume said. "Premium screen, you know."

"Is the show on there too?"

Suzume looked up at the boards again. "Hmm… Yeah, it is. Next show's at four-thirty."

"Nice timing. Let's go then."

"What?"

"You want to see it, right?"

"Yes, but it's expensive there!"

Atobe turned to her. "Suzume, who am I?"

"Huh? You're… Atobe Keigo?" She wondered where this conversation was going.

"And I am…?"

"A brat?"

He shot an annoyed look her way, which caused her to start laughing. "You were just asking for it with a question like that!" she chuckled.

"Hmph. Even if I am a brat, I'm a rich one. Do you seriously think that amount of money is going to burn a hole in my pocket?"

"Let me rephrase that: you're a rich brat who thinks nothing of spending money."

"No, I'm a rich brat who thinks nothing of spending money on you. Come on. " Atobe gave her no time to be surprised or to reply, taking her by the hand and pulling her to the queue.

----------

The green numbers on the clock in his car showed 7:10. Tezuka compared it with the time on his watch. There was two minutes' difference. His watch was faster. He slipped on his coat when he got out of the car. It was still winter, after all, and nights were chilly.

He heard the crisp dinging of the doorbell somewhere inside her house when he pressed the button beside the gate, which slid open about three seconds later. He walked slowly up the driveway to the front door, feeling blessedly calm and composed. It had taken him the whole afternoon, but thankfully he had managed to return to his normal state of self-control.

Yumi's sister opened the door and asked him to come in, saying Yumi would be down in a minute. When he entered, Riku popped out of the kitchen, cookie in hand, and exclaimed, "Tezuka-nii-san!"

He smiled at the little boy as he took off his coat and folded it over his arm. "Still here, are you? Where's your sister?"

"Watching TV."

"Ah."

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Tezuka looked up at the sound of her voice and his breath caught in his throat. Yumi was usually a good dresser, even if Suzume was supposedly the more gorgeous of the two, but this was one of those occasions when she looked even more put-together than normal. She wore a simple dress with a draping collar and sleeves, the skirt reaching below her knees. The only accessory she had on was a gold belt of some sort, foregoing her usual ring or necklace. The simplicity of the whole thing suited her as much as the colour – a deep shade of blue – did. All in all, he thought she looked beautiful.

Yumi hoped her hair looked all right. She had spent the last fifteen minutes looking for that blasted gold-coloured hair clip and had finally decided to give up on it and leave her hair loose.

"Sorry," she said again when she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Was looking for my hair clip. Couldn't find it though."

"You look fine." As soon as he said that, his mind yelled back at him: That's all you can say? Idiot. You just wasted a chance to say something nicer than that!

"I'll be just a moment – got to find my shoes."

Whilst she looked through the shoe cupboard for the pair she wanted – a little hampered by Riku's deciding that this was the perfect time to start asking her questions about where she was going – Tezuka took the chance to recollect what wits he had lost when he saw her coming down the stairs. It didn't take her long to find her shoes, but it was sufficient time for him to recompose himself.

Yumi had decided long ago that Tezuka could definitely talk well when he chose to. Behind that silent façade was someone who knew how to talk and could do so more excellently than perhaps he realised himself, since he didn't talk all that much except when he had to or when he was around people he was comfortable with. It gratified her to know that he was comfortable around her, if nothing else.

Their conversation so far had made peculiar jumps from topic to topic, covering the mundane things like work, the interesting things like news of old friends or acquaintances (apparently one of his kouhai, Momoshiro, was recently engaged to an old girlfriend), and things totally not connected like the food in Hokkaido and the Broadway show coming to Tokyo in several weeks'. A strange polyglot of topics, but Yumi rather liked it. It was almost like talking to Fuji or Saeki. Just minus the jibes and nuttiness that characterised those two friends of hers.

Come to think of it, I haven't heard from Syuusuke in a while.

It wasn't entirely unusual, though. She figured he was probably busy with work. But Saeki was the surprising one. He seemed to make it a point to call her at least once a week now, though usually he called more than once. Like some sort of nanny calling to make sure I'm okay, she thought wryly. She wondered if Fuji put him up to it as a sort of safeguard in case she sank into depression or something whilst he was away. It was nice of him anyway – whether or not Fuji really put him up to it.

She watched absent-mindedly as Tezuka picked up his glass to take a sip of his drink in the lull in conversation. She thought vaguely that for someone who was not in the wealthy upper class, he had the mannerisms of that group, but without the huge self-assurance that seemed common to them. The ones she knew, anyway. Suzume was like that – she behaved perfectly (most of the time), like the daughter of a wealthy family should and also had a sort of confident air that lent itself to leadership easily. Atobe Keigo had that too, but his tended to arrogance, which made him intolerable at times. Sayuri's boyfriend Ohtori was an exception, being more self-effacing and eager to please.

Whilst Yumi stirred her iced drink and mused over the behaviour of the rich and the mannerisms of Tezuka, she herself became the subject of silent observation. As she seemed to be engrossed in staring at her own drink at that moment – staring blankly, but staring nonetheless – Tezuka let his gaze drift from her black hair to her "plain" face (he disagreed with her on that adjective though) to the fair arms and hands that emerged from the blue sleeves of her dress.

For the umpteenth time, he asked himself if he could do it. Had he the courage? If he told her… How would she react? At worst this would become a very awkward meal and she would studiously avoid him for months to come. At best… Well, at best he would be unutterably happy.

Yumi looked up at him, breaking the chain of thought. "What is it?" she asked. "Is something on my face?"

"No, not at all," he said. "It's nothing. I was just thinking."

----------

Atobe was just thankful to be out of the cinema. The show had turned out to be some sort of sappy romantic comedy with some action elements in it. Suzume seemed to have been amused, but he hadn't found it very entertaining at all. He cursed Oshitari's taste in movies. How the fellow qualified to be a movie critic he couldn't imagine. His employer must have been a woman.

"Yumi! Tezuka!" Suzume's exclamations drew his attention to a table in the restaurant they had just entered. She went over to them, and he followed at a more leisurely pace.

"… Didn't expect to see you here!" she was saying when he reached them.

"I didn't expect to see you either," said Yumi. "You were out?"

Atobe nodded in silent greeting to Tezuka, who inclined his head in return.

"Yeah, we had lunch with Yuushi and then went for a movie," Suzume said.

"All three of you?"

"Yuushi left after lunch. He had a date. New girlfriend."

"Oh?" Yumi sounded interested. "Who's she?"

Atobe recognised that look on Yumi's face. It was the look of a woman who sensed interesting news or gossip ahead. He'd seen it on Suzume's face before. He looked at Suzume. She was obviously very keen on joining them (and continuing this discussion on Oshitari's new girlfriend), but either hadn't gotten around to asking, or didn't want to for some reason. He sighed internally. Very well then.

"Mind if we join you two?" he asked, looking at Yumi and Tezuka.

Tezuka offered no objection, and Yumi assented, so he procured two chairs from an empty table – deciding to pull them up himself, instead of calling a waiter to do so, as was his first impulse – and Suzume took a seat beside Yumi. Atobe himself sat down between Suzume and Tezuka, with Yumi opposite him.

After requesting the menu, Atobe glanced at Tezuka and gestured helplessly towards the two ladies, who seemed to be having a fun time discussing Oshitari's girlfriend – even though neither had even seen her before. "Women," he said.

A mild sort of agreement passed over the other man's face. A waiter brought two menus and handed one to Atobe and one to Suzume. Atobe flipped through it and proceeded to order the most expensive thing on the menu. In his opinion, that was the easiest way to see if a place was any good. If the expensive stuff was good, then the rest of it would be too. Suzume had once laughed at that, but he had stubbornly held to it. It made decisions about food in new places so much easier anyway. He looked over at Tezuka, who looked as taciturn as usual. He wondered what was going on in that head of his.

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Tezuka was not one to wish evil on others. Even at the height of his tennis heydays in school, he had never wished any of his opponents ill. Not even when he lost to them. Not even when they caused him injury. But right now he made an exception.

Damn.

He didn't often swear either, but there was no milder word for it that he could think of.

Damn Atobe Keigo.

Just when he had made up his mind to tell Yumi when dinner was about over (thereby minimizing awkwardness in case of rejection), these two show up and Atobe ruins all his plans. There was no way to refuse Atobe's – unusually polite – question without sounding rude or strange. At that moment, Tezuka heartily wished Atobe and Suzume were somewhere on the other side of the world instead. Or somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. He didn't care. Anywhere but here. It was decidedly not amusing to see his plans go up in smoke. Nor to have all his hard-mustered courage go to waste. He felt quite deflated now.

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Suzume was only mildly surprised when Atobe actually waited for her to be seated before he sat down himself. Already she was getting more accustomed to the better manners (though good manners were pretty easy to adjust to anyway). She was more surprised when he didn't call the manager to complain – loudly – about the food, seeing that he clearly did not find his meal very pleasant. However, she was utterly astonished when he invited not only Tezuka to a game of tennis at his personal courts someday, but also told Yumi to ask Fuji and Saeki to join them if they could.

"Oshitari and some of the others will be coming too. I think they would all enjoy a few decent games," he said.

It was somehow a bit odd to have him being so… Nice. But she figured she could get used to this as well as the new manners. If anything, she had to respect the effort he was making at being nice.

"Don't they have 'decent games' with you as well, Atobe?" Tezuka asked.

"I beat them too easily for it to be fair game."

Suzume wanted to grin and roll her eyes at the same time. Now that was a thoroughly Atobe Keigo answer. Probably no amount of niceness would ever be able to disguise that ego of his. It just made him less pompous. But if he lost his ego completely… She had to admit that perhaps he wouldn't quite be himself anymore. Not that she liked that overbearing ego. A slightly more humble air wouldn't hurt. But she would miss poking fun at his overconfidence if he suddenly turned into Ohtori Choutarou.

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Yumi leaned back in her chair. The food had been pretty good – the empty plates on the table attested to that. (Except Atobe's anyway.) And on top of that, she had had a fun time talking to some of her closest friends. Atobe aside, that is. She also felt a little relieved that her pragmatic sensibilities had overruled her inner romantic. She would have been rather disappointed that Suzume and Atobe had joined them if she had come to dinner with high-flown fantasies.

But the morning's events would creep back to her mind every now and then, no matter how hard she shoved them away.

Some girls more than others… Can you go out for dinner tonight? With me.

And that look in his eyes. She wasn't sure how to interpret that, but she knew she couldn't deny that it had been there. It was that look and his words that made even her firm practicality hesitate and wonder. In any case, it was probably a good thing Suzume had shown up. She helped keep her mind on things other than mere possibilities and what-ifs.

She liked how when a while later – almost two hours after Suzume and Atobe had joined them – they decided to leave, Tezuka had stood first and helped pull back her chair for her to get up. The small gestures were part of what drew her to him. She wondered if he was like this with his other female friends.

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Atobe didn't want the journey to end. He half-wished he had gotten his chauffeur to drive them instead so he could concentrate fully on talking to her. But because he rather enjoyed driving his car, he had decided to drive out himself when he and Oshitari had left to meet Suzume for lunch.

Suzume kept talking about dinner and the movie earlier. It occurred to him that she could be really talkative at times. She sounded happy, though. If she had enjoyed herself, that was good. He had too – except for the movie part. He made a mental note to tell Oshitari his taste in movies was appalling.

Her favourite song came on the radio and she stopped talking to listen to it. It took a while before Atobe realised that the song had ended and she still hadn't said anything. He glanced to the side and saw that Suzume was asleep, head leaning on the window. He turned the radio volume down a little so it wouldn't disturb her.

At the next red light, he looked at her again. Still asleep. Some of her hair had fallen across her face. Gingerly he reached out and brushed the hair aside, hoping she wouldn't wake up all of a sudden. His eyes darted to the traffic lights to make sure they were still red before coming back to her sleeping visage. He thought she looked gorgeous even when asleep.

I could look at her forever.

----------

Yumi allowed herself a very small sigh as the car pulled up in front of her house. Dinner had skipped by too fast for her liking, but then that was the way happy times went. Sad times dragged endlessly, but good times disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Thank you for tonight, Tezuka. It was fun. The whole day was, actually," she added with a smile, before looking down to remove her seatbelt.

Something poked at his insides. Say it! You have less than ten seconds before she gets that seatbelt off, opens the door and shuts it again.

"Yumi, I –"

The ringing of a phone cut him off. Having just got the seatbelt off, Yumi reached into her bag and took out her hand phone.

"Sorry," she said to him. "Hold on." She flicked the phone open after a quick look at the caller ID. "Hey, Sae! What's up?"

Sae. Saeki. Memories of Ohtori's Christmas party and the uncertainty of whether she cared for Saeki Kojirou in that way all rushed back to Tezuka's mind in a flash.

"I just got home from dinner. Still in the car, actually," Yumi said. "I'm with Tezuka… Shut up, Sae. Stop snickering. I know you are." Yumi felt glad that it was dark in the car, since she wasn't sure if she was as pink in the face as she felt. "Hang on, will you? Oh, never mind. I'll call you back." She closed her phone and looked to Tezuka, who seemed to be patiently waiting, one elbow propped casually on the thin ledge by the window on his side. "Sorry. He was – er – being his usual nutty self. Thanks again, yea?"

He nodded and smiled a little in a silent "You're welcome."

Yumi leaned across and gave him a quick hug. "See you around," she said, opening the door and getting out. She waved before closing the car door.

Tezuka waited until she had entered her home and closed the gate behind her. Then he drove off, rounded the corner and stopped the car at the side of the road. He slumped in his seat and pressed the fingers of one hand to his forehead, the other hand curling into a frustrated fist on the steering wheel.

I'll try to get Chapter 7 up a.s.a.p. Still tweaking stuff here and there in it. . I hope you found this chapter interesting!