A/N: First and foremost a big thank you to my betas vierblith and hakkaisensei. I'm sorry for this late update because of exams and hell in general, but for once in my life I'm happy with something I wrote! -insert pitiful little self applause here- um, yeah. Happy reading!

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IV

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Tezuka counted twenty rings before he finally gave up. He put the phone down, trying to convince himself that he wasn't disappointed at all. It was only natural and expected that Fuji wouldn't answer.

He put the phone down and rubbed the bridge of his nose. No, he wasn't disappointed at all. Tezuka had known this would happen; there was no use being disappointed about it.

He wasn't disappointed.

Tezuka wasn't...

He was just a tiny bit annoyed, not at Fuji, but rather at Atobe. It was easier when everything was Atobe's fault, and, more often than not, everything was.

And before his logical side could tell him he was just lying to himself, Tezuka took a long hot shower and went to bed. Sleep solved everything though he usually liked solving problems and hence never slept at all.

Tonight, however, seemed to be an exemption.

-

"What are you doing right now?" Maybe it was just Tezuka's imagination, but Atobe sounded rather sluggish over the phone.

"I'm...reading." Tezuka said calmly, flipping a page of the magazine that he was perusing. The only thing that was possibly strange about all this was the fact that Atobe had made the phone call at six in the morning. Six wasn't early for Tezuka, but, for Atobe, it was a different story.

"What are you reading?"

"Stocks."

"Why?"

"Because." Tezuka said, and left it at that because he didn't owe Atobe an explanation for anything. "Which brings me to ask, why are you calling me at six o' clock in the morning?"

"Well, you'd be up. I knew that."

For a minute, Tezuka said nothing. He almost wanted to tell Atobe that he had called Fuji, but that the boy hadn't picked up. But then what could Atobe do? So Tezuka chose not to. "You're hung over, aren't you?"

"No." Then, Tezuka heard, "Yeah. I guess I am. You can shoot me at work."

Tezuka hadn't planned on saying it, but it just slipped out: "Actually...I was thinking of not going to work. Can you excuse me today?"

There was a shocked pause on Atobe's end. "I... well, of course I can do that. Ore-sama can do anything, you know. Just never thought you'd ask. What's the occasion?"

"I just felt like it," Tezuka answered. He had nothing planned. He turned the page, and his lips twitched. Atobe actually believed that he could do anything. It was almost laughable.

"You're strange this morning, Tezuka. Good bye then, I'll call later. Take the day off."

Atobe hung up then, and Tezuka picked up another magazine. Atobe was the strange one; he never called this early in the morning though he knew Tezuka was almost always certain to be awake.

Just as Tezuka put his phone down on the pillow beside him, it went off again. Tezuka almost ignored it until he realized it wasn't Atobe. The flickering screen announced 'Fuji Syusuke'.

Fuji Syusuke.

Tezuka sighed, took a deep breath, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"You called me last night," said Fuji's light silky voice. Tezuka thought that Fuji sounded like a girl. "Did I call too early, Tezuka-sama?"

"No, I was up," Tezuka said and, then, he stopped because he didn't want to say anything stupid.

"Ah, that's good. I didn't want to wake you up." Fuji seemed content just to talk, and Tezuka was content just to listen. He liked hearing Fuji's voice – he could admit that in private. It would probably be more than a little embarrassing to say it out loud though. "I guess I should apologize first before you get mad. I'm sorry for not picking up last night. I was with Shiraishi-sama; he would have gotten mad."

"It's all right. I knew that you were probably busy anyway," Tezuka lied, or tried to, and he thought he made a good job.

Fuji laughed, but it wasn't at all mocking, it was just a child's laugh. "Tezuka-sama. It's all right to tell me if you're jealous too. I like hearing it."

"I..." Tezuka never thought of denying it. "...But hearing it and admitting it aren't the same. I think it's harder on my end."

"I suppose so. But you can work on that," Fuji agreed amiably. "Shall we talk about something else, then? We can talk about whatever you like."

Tezuka being Tezuka, said, "I can't think of anything."

Fuji laughed again, "I can think of something then, Tezuka-sama." There was a long pause. "You asked me how old I was yesterday; how old are you?"

"I'm...almost twenty-seven. Next month." For the first time, Tezuka felt ancient.

"Okay." There was a pause, as if Fuji was committing that piece of information to memory. "When's your birthday? I'll get you something nice."

"My birthday? October 7th," Tezuka said. "But you don't have to give me anything. I'm a little old for presents, don't you think?"

"Atobe-sama's older than you, and he gets presents." Fuji said, "Don't worry, Tezuka-sama; I won't get you anything too embarrassing. Or you can tell me what you like. What would you like for your birthday?"

So Fuji knew when Atobe's birthday was. But then, that wasn't surprising at all. "...Have you ever gotten something for Atobe?"

"No. He hates me for it," Fuji said, as if it was nothing of importance. "I don't really care. He has too many people giving him presents anyway."

That implied that Fuji didn't think that anyone gave Tezuka presents, but the latter didn't get offended. Tezuka thought for a minute. "Anything I want?"

"Within reason, of course. I'm not Atobe-sama, you have to remember."

Tezuka closed his eyes and saw the boy in a white kimono, smiling.

"Then I want you to spend time with me on my birthday. That's all."

There was a long pause. "That's...all?"

"Yes. For my birthday, I want you to have a cup of coffee with me," Tezuka said. When he said it for the second time, he grew more certain that this was indeed what he wanted for his birthday.

"Yes, then. On one condition, though," Fuji said. "You have to promise, Tezuka-sama."

Tezuka was a little disconcerted. "That depends."

"You have to spend the night with me, and let me make you breakfast. And you'll have to finish your breakfast," Fuji replied, probably still smiling; perhaps, his smile even grew, "All right?"

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'll make you spend the night with me anyway and I'll force-feed you breakfast. Have you even had breakfast, Tezuka-sama? For today, I mean."

He let out a sigh, and he realized that the magazine was still on his lap. Tezuka set it aside. "No, I haven't. Have you?"

"No. Shiraishi-sama left when I woke up, so...not yet." Fuji sounded disappointed, and Tezuka wondered if he should be jealous of this Shiraishi person. "But I'm going to make myself breakfast in a minute. You're probably not going to eat at all. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"Tezuka-sama..."

Tezuka was being scolded by a boy. A mere boy. Yet his lips almost curled into a smile. "Fuji, I'm not like you. Are you wearing a white kimono right now?"

"I am." Fuji sounded surprised.

"The one that you wore when I saw you. The one with the cranes?"

Fuji laughed. "Yes, I am. I like wearing it, it still smells like you." There was a pause and Tezuka heard faint rustling on the other end, "Tell me something else."

"You're lying down. On the couch," Tezuka said, surprising himself more than Fuji, probably. However, the comment that Fuji's kimono still smelled like him was a little...well, odd. "With one leg dangling off."

"It seems I can't put anything past you, Tezuka-sama." But for what it was worth, Fuji sounded happy. "My turn. You're...hmm, in bed, it's probably a very big bed. And you're wearing - I don't know what you're wearing. What are you wearing?"

Tezuka looked down and took note of his attire. "I'm wearing a shirt and loose pants," he reported dutifully, finding this amusing despite his tendency not to be amused by anything.

"Oh, that makes sense. Okay, um, half of your bed is made, the other half isn't because you're sitting on it. You're also reading something. Something boring."

"It's not boring." Tezuka felt the need to defend himself this time. "...It's a business magazine, and, if you figure out what it's talking about, it's actually interesting."

Fuji smiled. This was a tolerant smile; Tezuka closed his eyes and just knew. "Heh, I know I'll never make sense of it, that's why it's boring."

Fuji probably would never make sense of it, which was all right. Tezuka doubted he'd understand Fuji either, if the boy ever bothered to explain his lifestyle to Tezuka. A warm silence stretched between them. Tezuka laid his head down on the pillow, feeling strangely content for the first time in a long while.

"Fuji, you're going to fix fish and rice again, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

Tezuka said nothing for a while because the silence was warm. Then, he said, "If...if you could have anything for breakfast, what would you have?"

"Anything?" Fuji thought. "I would have...well, as a kid I'd have a strawberry parfait, and I'd have a stack of pancakes with lots of chocolate syrup." He laughed wistfully. "But I was a kid then, and it sounds very silly now, Tezuka-sama."

It did indeed sound silly, but it also sounded like Fuji, and the thought was unexpectedly endearing. "...No it doesn't. Are you busy this morning?"

If Fuji knew he was lying, the boy didn't bother to correct him this time, probably because he thought that Tezuka was probably a helpless case. "I'm – not really,but don't you have work to do?"

"According to Atobe, I don't have to go to work." Tezuka said, "Since you're not busy, would you like to have a strawberry parfait and pancakes with chocolate syrup with me today?"

Fuji hesitated. "...Well, of course, but Tezuka-sama doesn't sound like the type to like sweets."

"I don't, but I don't mind having coffee and toast this morning." Tezuka asked, "Is that a yes, then?"

"Yes, it is."

-

Tezuka was almost as wealthy as Atobe, and yet his head spun when he saw the number that popped up on Ryuzaki's computer. It wasn't as if he couldn't afford such a sum, it was just... he didn't think 'renting' the boy out of the brothel for a few hours would equate to a week's worth of salary. Ryuzaki looked at him.

"I'll be honest with you, Tezuka-sama. I don't like letting Fuji go out," Ryuzaki said, and glanced at the said boy, who was sitting quietly on a chair. For once, Fuji wasn't wearing a kimono; he wore a t-shirt and jeans and faded sneakers. "He's not the type to behave himself."

"Sumire-sama, that's not true!" Fuji stuck out his tongue like a child. "I behave myself plenty of times..."

The look that she gave him was a severe one and Fuji stared meekly at the floor. "If you let me go out with Tezuka-sama, I'll keep all my appointments this week. Even the night appointments with people I don't like."

Ryuzaki shot a suspicious look at Tezuka now. Fuji was temperamental, she knew that, and the boy made more appointments than he could keep and ended up canceling mostly all of them. Who was this Tezuka that Fuji would consent to the sacrifice of keeping all of his appointments?

"Really? Including the one with Mizuki-sama on Thursday?"

Fuji winced, but nodded. "Yes, with Mizuki-sama too. I promise. I won't try to poison him either." He said it so casually that Tezuka was alarmed. "Now, may I please go out with Tezuka-sama?"

"If you're willing to go that far, I guess I can't stop you." Ryuzaki sighed, at last taking the bills that Tezuka had put on the counter. "But I do expect you back here by three o' clock. You have an appointment with Saeki-sama at four-thirty. You'll need to come back and clean up."

-

Then they were alone in the alleyway. Tezuka looked at the boy next to him, "Am I worth all that? Keeping all your appointments for?"

"No. I just want the breakfast you promised me, Tezuka-sama. It sounded very tantalizing." Fuji smiled a sweet, nonchalant smile. "Besides, if I don't keep my appointments, I'll have no clients soon. That's bad for me."

"Oh." Now, why did Tezuka bother feeling upset? Why did he even feel the need to think he was upset when he wasn't?

"Saa...you take everything too seriously, Tezuka-sama." Fuji nudged his shoulder, "You should loosen up." Fuji took his hand. "Here, let's hold hands. You'll let me, won't you, Tezuka-sama?"

"...I..." Well, the truth was that Tezuka didn't particularly want to, but his hand wanted to. "I guess so."

Fuji nudged him again as they began walking. "You could be a little happier about it." There was a faint pout on the boy's lips. "I don't let many people hold my hand. Hand-holding is special, you know."

And yet Tezuka was sure that beside the fact that the boy had let lots of 'clients' share his bed, hand-holding was...well, of little significance. "What's so special about it?"

The boy looked at their hands. And then he shrugged. "I don't know. I only know it's special. Come on now, Tezuka-sama."