Chapter 9

Shizuko most certainly not going to tell Ijuuin about his visitors that weekend. The prep for the autograph trip was already stressful enough; he didn't want the wily manga-ka hanging around while he was trying to entertain his parents. They would only be in town for a couple days, and it would be as simple as meeting them for a couple of meals and maybe showing them around. That most certainly didn't involve Ijuuin. Not one little bit.

"I have to get going," Shizuko mumbled, standing up from his desk. Ijuuin had wandered into the office about an hour ago, claiming he'd been at Marukawa for some kind of meeting, and hadn't left since. When he saw Shizuko was leaving, he tried to follow but stopped when Shizuko held his hand up. "Personal. Not for you."

"Aw, but Kiwi," he said, following after Shizuko like a little lost puppy. "We have all weekend now. Don't you want to spend some time together?"

"I already agreed to stay with you in your hotel rooms during the trip," Shizuko muttered, reaching around in his bag for his wallet so he knew how much he had for a taxi. He wasn't going to make his mother and father ride the subway to their hotel, especially at rush hour.

Ijuuin gently took Shizuko's hand around the wrist, frowning. "At least tell me what's so important, Kiwi…"

Shizuko glared over his shoulder at him, making Ijuuin step back. And then he sighed. "My parents are coming to visit, so I'm going to pick them up for dinner and then bring them to their hotel."

Ijuuin's eyes lit up at that, and he quickly took his keys out. "Well then! We can pick them up at the station in style."

Shizuko gave Ijuuin a withering looking, but it didn't seem like the man even noticed. He was too busy tugging Shizuko along, just like he had done last time. "Sensei, I'd greatly appreciate it if you didn't involve yourself in this. They're my parents, not yours."

"Exactly! I want to meet Mr. and Mrs. Kiwi." He grinned as they got to his car, which was parked exactly the way it had been parked last time as well. Shizuko was starting to get really tired of the fact that Ijuuin didn't think that rules applied to him. "I'll pay for dinner and maybe get on their good sides. Never know when it might be needed."

"…my parents have nothing to do with your or the industry," Shizuko muttered, but it didn't seem that Ijuuin was giving him any kind of choice in the matter. So rather than attempting to walk away from the car. "I doubt they would want to meet you, anyway."

"Aw, Kiwi, you're hurting me. Right in my heart." He patted his chest as he got the car started and waited to pull into traffic. "I just want to be part of your life."

"You're already part of my life. I see you more than Kirishima-san sometimes."

"What, are you in a relationship with Kirishima?" Ijuuin looked amused as he glanced over at Shizuko. "And here I thought the old guy was a one-person kinda guy."

"…that isn't even remotely funny." Shizuko just rolled his eyes and stared out the window again. Just like the last time, he was seriously considering just jumping out of the car when they got to a stop light, but it seemed that the lights were in their favor tonight, because they kept hitting them green. "Just… please behave around my parents. Staying in the car while I go get them would be nice. Pretending to be my driver would be nicer."

"Kiwi! How rude."

"Oops. Did I say that last part out loud?" Shizuko's voice was deadpan as ever as he turned to give Ijuuin a very significant stare. "I'm serious, though."

"I know you are, Kiwi."

"And don't call me 'Kiwi' in front of my parents." He was pouting as they found a parking spot near the station, but he did manage to give Ijuuin a significant look when he tried to get out and leave without feeding the parking meter.

"Aw, but it's cute."

"And I'm a grown man who will kick your ass."

Ijuuin shuddered at that, letting him simply lead the way. There were certain fights even he wasn't willing to drag on.

xxx

"And who exactly are you again?"

Ijuuin glanced in the rearview mirror of his car at Shizuko's mother, smiling slightly. It seemed that it didn't really matter when he was simply helping them with their bags, but now that they had some time stuck in traffic while they got to the restaurant for dinner, it was time to play twenty questions.

He glanced over at Shizuko, and then gave him a bright smile. "I'm one of Ishi-san's authors. He was simply helping me with a few things before he left work, and when he told me he had to pick you two up, I offered to give him a ride, since it wouldn't do to bring you two on the subway."

"Well isn't that nice." Shizuko's mother smiled brightly at that, seeming to ignore the fact that her son was banging his head against the window beside him. "Are you the one Shizu-chan said is going on an autograph tour soon?"

"Yes." He glanced over at Shizuko, managing to keep the smile on his face despite the fact that he wasn't to laugh out loud. It seemed that Shizuko was having a hard time reconciling the fact that Ijuuin could be respectful. Admittedly it probably was a bit of a surprise, considering that he wasn't even that respectful to his bosses, but that was beside the point.

They were going to a sushi bar, and when Shizuko told Ijuuin that the hotel was right down the street and he didn't need to stay there, his father insisted that they should thank him for the ride with dinner.

"I like your parents, Shizu-chan," Ijuuin said, a large grin on his lips.

"Shut up."

The sushi bar was busy, and it took a few minutes of them waiting for someone to get up for them to get their own seats. Ijuuin waited for Shizuko's parents to take their first plates before he picked his own, chatting with them the entire time.

"Why didn't you tell us you had such a charming friend, Shizu-chan?" his mother said as she broke her chopsticks apart and smiled over at him.

"…Ijuuin-sensei isn't exactly my friend," he muttered, taking the first plate he could reach off the belt and pointedly avoiding his mother's gaze. "As I said, he's one of my authors, and we work together."

"Wasn't he just telling us that you brought him on a picnic the other day?" His father glanced over at Shizuko before going back to eating.

"And what a wonderful picnic it was! He promised it to me if I got my color pages in early. He always was good at motivating me."

"Kirishima-san was much better." Mostly because Kirishima had gotten in the habit of threatening him with violence. The man may have been nicer than Emerald's editor, but he knew how to get things done when he needed to.

Ijuuin, miraculously, decided to be quiet for the rest of the dinner while Shizuko's parents talked. He didn't even say anything when they delved into rather… sensitive territory.

"Shizuko, will we get to meet this partner of yours that you've been telling us about?" she asked when she finished her second sushi plate. When Shizuko looked at her, confused, she smiled. "The one you're always taking care of, and you said she wants to take you on a trip soon."

Ijuuin was, understandably, snickering in the background, but he managed to keep it quiet so Shizuko's parents didn't notice.

For Shizuko's part, he simply cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry, Mama. But when I told you about that person, I wasn't talking about a girlfriend."

"Then who in the world were you talking about?" She tilted her head like Shizuko was speaking a foreign language to her which he might have been. She clearly wasn't used to him having any romantic interests at all, if she was jumping on some vague mentions of someone that didn't even involve romantic interactions.

He glanced at Ijuuin, who was taking another plate off the belt and smiling to himself. And then he dropped his chopstick, quickly apologizing as he went to pick it up and knocked his head on the counter in the process.

Shizuko just rolled his eyes. "I was talking about Ijuuin-sensei, Mama. I take care of him quite a lot, because I'm sure if I didn't, he'd end up with a concussion every day, among other things."

There was a very long silence at that, during which Shizuko's father shifted around in his seat like there was something he wanted to say but wasn't sure how he wanted to phrase it.

"…that's nice dear." And that seemed to be that, because Shizuko sure as hell wasn't going to elaborate that they may have been in some kind of bizarre relationship. He didn't even understand it himself.

xxx

Shizuko was supposed to call his parents when he got back to his apartment, but he wasn't looking like he'd even be able to hold up his phone. They'd gone drinking after the sushi bar, a small restaurant that served sake in small cups. Considering it was Friday night and Shizuko didn't have work the next morning, he may have drank more of those little cups than he really should have. Which was why it was especially hard to send Ijuuin home after they'd gotten his parents to the hotel.

"Whoa, careful there, Kiwi." He smiled slightly as he helped Shizuko over the threshold, leaning down to untie his shoes and get them off his feet. Shizuko leaned against the wall of the genkan, staring down at the man. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he muttered. "Not even drunk."

"Pretty sure you're drunk, Kiwi. Off sake. You bring shame to classy Japanese men everywhere." He lifted his head and grinned at him as he lifted a foot and managed to pull one shoe off. "Now the other foot."

"Which other foot?"

"…you only have two, Kiwi." He sighed as he put Shizuko's foot down and lifted the other one to get the shoe off. Which promptly caused Shizuko to slide down the wall and sit own right there in the genkan. Once the shoes were off and Ijuuin had gotten Shizuko's slippers onto his feet, he smiled slightly. "Want me to carry you to bed?"

"No." He yawned, his head nodding slightly as he tried and failed to stand up. "Yes."

"Come on." Ijuuin easily lifted the smaller man into his arms and made his way across the apartment, humming as he went. "I can change you into some pajamas, too."

"Over my dead body."

"Hopefully not." He grinned down at Shizuko as he put him down on the bed, leaning down to brush some hair out of his eyes. "Mind if I stay the night? Don't want you hurting yourself or anything."

"Whatever." He rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes, not protesting when Ijuuin quietly slipped in beside him.

"Goodnight, Shizu-chan."