A/N: A quicker update than the last one, hopefully to make up for the last one hehe. Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad to see people are enjoying this, makes me warm and fuzzy inside. :). Mucho thanks to hakkaisensei for taking time to beta-read.

Shameless Plug: Go read my Saiyuki fanfic or die -stabs with pen- Nah, just kidding, but do go check it out, onegaishimasu.

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VII

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Tezuka hung up the phone.

It took him a full five minutes to convince himself that he wasn't disappointed this time; he was allowed to be a little disconcerted, wasn't he? But he wasn't disappointed, he wasn't.

He was just...

Tezuka's head snapped around when his phone went off again, but his hopeful glance soon became a glare.

He snapped open the phone, and answered for the second time without a greeting, "What do you want?"

There was a rather annoyed sigh at his greeting. "Just what did I do that made you so angry?" Obviously, Atobe didn't know how to deal with people angry at him. He only knew how to be worshipped. Tezuka pitied him for it.

"You didn't do anything."

"Then would you please stop being mad and be reasonable for once?" Atobe's voice took on a whining edge; at twenty-seven, he could still whine. Probably because he grew up doing nothing but whine. He did not know how to function when people disliked him, were angry with him. It was a given that everyone was expected to abide by Atobe Keigo's rules and see Atobe Keigo as God.

The fact that Tezuka didn't seem to want to do either must have alarmed Atobe.

"Tezuka..."

"What?" His tone was sharper than he meant it to be, and Tezuka didn't bother correcting himself. "If you don't want anything, I'm hanging up."

"Tezuka...don't do this to me." Finally, Atobe sighed again; this sigh was a resigned one. "If you're really so pissed, let's go out and have a nice dinner, and I'll make everything up to you, I promise. Just don't be like this, you're pissing me off."

"For one who's so eager to make amends, you're going about it in a very bad way." Tezuka said, "I"m hanging up."

"May I pick you up in an hour?"

Even if he was a bit peeved at Atobe for reasons that were perfectly reasonable in his mind, Tezuka knew he would be a fool to turn down dinner with Atobe; even if the other man was a complete idiot, he was a generous idiot.

"All right."

Atobe immediately brightened, "Do you want to go anywhere in particular? Or shall I pick?"

"You can pick." For one that practically lived on frozen dinners, Tezuka ate anything.

"Okay, well then...dress nice. Not nice nice, like work, but somewhere in between? Ore-sama will see you in an hour." It was phrased like an order. There was a final click. It seemed that Tezuka never said hello and to retaliate, Atobe never said good-bye.

Tezuka stared at his phone, as if by sheer will, the right person would call.

Five minutes passed. Tezuka gave up and went to take a shower. A cold one this time.

-

It seemed that every part of his body bruised and ached, although Fuji knew it could have been a thousand times worse. He was alone in bed. Oshitari had promised to stay until he fell asleep. Oshitari had probably done just that; it was foolish of Fuji to expect him to do anything more.

But his phone was right where he left it, right there on the pillow.

1 missed call.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, 5:35 pm.

Fuji smiled, and kissed the flickering screen before he pressed call.

-

Atobe ended up taking him to a very upscale seafood joint that had just opened and attracted the 'right crowd' as Atobe fondly said. It wouldn't hurt at all for Tezuka to mingle with the 'right crowd,' as opposed to not mingling at all.

Outside of the business scene, Atobe Keigo was a regular vixen. Tezuka surmised that the other man must be a frequent patron, because every waitress that passed by their table (conveniently in the middle of all the chaos) received a kiss on the cheek or the hand from Atobe.

Tezuka wondered if Atobe's lips ever got numb. Tezuka's own lips were still numb from the kiss Fuji had given him earlier.

Looking across the table to his companion, Tezuka realized that Atobe wore earrings; he had gotten so used to seeing Atobe in a professional light that he had forgotten that once the other got out of the business scene he was always trying too hard to have fun. The studs in his ears glinted sinisterly and they looked real. They probably were, knowing Atobe.

Tezuka was about to say something derogatory when his phone buzzed. Usually, he refrained from saying things of a derogatory nature but for Atobe, like Fuji, he made exceptions.

Fuji Syusuke, 7:48 pm

He looked at Atobe, the phone still vibrating gently in his hand. Atobe looked to be in the middle of an intense flirting session with a waitress in a shamelessly short skirt; her legs were long though, so there wasn't anything to be ashamed of.

Tezuka got up and left the table. Atobe did not seem to notice.

He walked out the door; unlike the interior of the restaurant, the outside was quiet. A little cold, but quiet. Tezuka flipped open his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Tezuka-sama." Fuji's voice was light as always. "Sorry for not picking up earlier, I was asleep."

Fuji was with a client, Fuji was asleep. Both were viable excuses, though neither explained why Tezuka was suddenly struck with a sense of...jealousy?--of sleep and men he would probably never know. He looked up, the sky seemed somber.

"It's all right, sleep is good for you."

The boy laughed; even though Fuji was laughing at him, Tezuka found that he did not mind. "It feels funny hearing that from you."

Tezuka said, "Why?"

"You don't sleep much, yet you want me to sleep. You don't eat much, although you buy me breakfast. You don't smile at all, but you always want me to smile for you."

It had been only days. Yet Fuji was using 'always' with frightening regularity. What was even more frightening was that Tezuka wanted to believe him.

"I can't help it. It's easier to have you do everything."

"Tezuka-sama is lazy." The laugh that reached his ears was one with a teasing edge.

"No, I'm not."

"Sure you are." Fuji said, "You're too lazy to do anything remotely fun."

Tezuka said nothing. Then, "...I had fun with you this morning. Am I still lazy?"

There was a pause, "Not really. But that was just this morning. When was the last time you had fun, not counting this morning?"

Now, that question required some thought. Tezuka thought for a moment, and shrugged, "I don't know, I took a week off after graduation. I went to Spain with Atobe; we got mugged on the first day." And that was all he remembered.

"Did you have to share a hotel room?" Fuji asked.

Tezuka blanched, but only for a minute; this was Fuji. He had to remember who he was talking to. "We had a suite with two rooms in Madrid, I remember it being nice."

"Ah." Fuji was smiling, Tezuka closed his eyes and saw him smile, "...Right, you're a virgin, I forget."

"I wish you wouldn't bring that up." And Tezuka really wished the boy didn't, it made everything awkward.

"Sorry." The boy promptly sounded sorry, but Tezuka had no way to measure whether or not Fuji meant it. "But still, Tezuka-sama, I suppose you got robbed because it's Atobe-sama's way to be an exhibitionist. Was he angry when you got mugged?"

"What would you think?"

"No." Fuji's reply held no hesitation. "You though, Tezuka-sama, were you angry?"

"I was incensed. I didn't speak to him for two whole days," Tezuka said, being completely honest.

Fuji laughed out loud. "Did you yell and scream at him?"

"Yes, for five minutes, and then I stopped talking."

"I think I would like to get Tezuka-sama angry once."

That surprised him. "Why?"

"Because..." Fuji trailed off. "You're not so careful when you're angry. You're too careful. I want to see the side of you that allows you to scream and yell. I can't imagine Tezuka-sama yelling and screaming."

Tezuka said nothing.

"Tezuka-sama, do you like white?"

He blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Do you like white?"

"I..." Tezuka closed his eyes and he saw Fuji in white. Fuji had worn black once, but when Tezuka closed his eyes, he would always see the boy in white, just like a little angel. "I suppose, I never think about…colors."

"Oh." Fuji's voice was oddly flat.

Tezuka immediately wished he had said yes, instead, but then, Fuji had said it himself. Tezuka Kunimitsu didn't have what it took to lie.

"What does Tezuka-sama like, then? It doesn't seem like you like anything."

"...Does it really seem that way?"

"Yes, to me." Fuji sounded quite serious. Tezuka heard no laugh this time, and even the image in his head, Fuji had a subtle frown. He didn't like having Fuji frown. In his mind, Fuji always smiled. Tezuka realized then that the boy had a point; he disliked plenty of things, but he never professed to liking anything.

"I enjoy your company." He said truthfully. It wasn't a lie, Fuji made Tezuka feel a million years older than he really was, but the boy was also a proverbial breath of fresh air for him, and he enjoyed it.

"Of course you'd say that." If it was possible, Fuji's voice had just gotten flatter.

Tezuka was alarmed; his base instincts told him that he had upset the boy. His base instincts also told him to fix it, but it was difficult to fix things if he didn't know how they were broken.

"No, Fuji, I meant it. Really."

The silence told him that Fuji was still not convinced.

"You said it yourself, I can't lie. And I'm not going to start."

"But I can lie, Tezuka-sama. And I lied to you. You can tell a proper lie. You lie to protect people. You don't have to force yourself to say things." The boy's voice was suddenly chilly, cold.

"Fuji--"

"Good bye, Tezuka-sama."

There was a dull click. Tezuka stared at his phone.

"Tezuka, the food is getting cold. If you're finished, you should come and eat."

Atobe's voice. Which probably meant that Atobe's body was somewhere nearby as well. Tezuka turned to face the other man, wanting to ask how long Atobe had been standing there, but he didn't dare, because the answer wasn't something he wanted to hear.

"Tezuka?"

"Ah, I'm coming."

-

Fuji was angry. That in itself wasn't so unusual; when riled, it was well known that the boy had a temper. It was why he was angry...

Of course he had all the reasons in the world to be angry.

So it wasn't a crime to want to hear Tezuka say it. That he liked him. He didn't even need to hear that Tezuka...loved him. He wanted to hear a simple like. Yet Tezuka seemed to refuse anything simple. The simple kiss had sent the man reeling. Those simple questions that were meant to be coy, it all came to nothing.

Perhaps he was angry because his pride was hurt. Clients, no matter who they were, they bowed down before the boy Fuji Syusuke. He sat utterly untouchable on his throne of praise and adoration. He hated to admit it, but in that respect, he was exactly like Atobe Keigo. Perhaps even worse.

Fuji shuddered to think that he was worse than Atobe Keigo, in any respect.

Still, he was angry—incensed. Fuji had never used that word before, but Tezuka had used it.

He had wanted something so simple. And it was stupid of Tezuka not to give it to him. No wonder the man has been a virgin so long. Fuji pitied him for it; it seemed that Tezuka was really too wound up and losing his virginity would do him nothing but good.

Fuji sighed as he replaced the phone on top of the dresser and lay back down on the bed. The sheets were clean, yet he didn't remember anyone coming in to change them.

In the end, Tezuka hadn't answered either, about whether or not he liked white. It was a simple question.

Fuji had on a white kimono now, embroidered with light blue doves, he tore it off, incensed, and lay there naked. He even heard fabric rip. Which was just as well, he had never liked the kimono anyway, the blue doves were gaudy.

His own hands trailed down his own body with obvious familiarity, brushing by all the right places to draw moans from his lips.

"Oh..."

The hands were clumsy, but warm. The hands were a little rough but that was all right, Tezuka had never done this before, but Fuji made sure to moan just so, letting the sighs and the groans guide the man above him.

"Tezuka-sama, I love you."

There was no reply, only heavy breathing. The hand trailed hesitantly between his legs. Fuji's breathing hitched. The hand stopped.

"Tezuka-sama, I want you."

It hurt, Fuji hadn't remembered how much it could hurt.

He cried out and warm lips covered his, sucking relentlessly at his mouth, until his moans of pain gave away to ones of pure, ravaging pleasure.

"I love you..."

"Syusuke!"

Fuji's eyes flew open. There was a figure standing in his doorway, in his clouded euphoria he didn't remember unlocking his door.

"Tezu--" His eyes cleared and he hastily corrected himself, "...Shiraishi-sama?"

Shiraishi Kuranosuke closed the door quietly behind him, and turned the lock.

Fuji Syusuke lay naked, alone on the bed, with a rosy tinge about his cheeks. There was an intoxicating glaze over the cerulean eyes.

Shiraishi felt himself smile.

"You couldn't have waited for me, Syusuke?" Shiraishi's tone was reproving.

The smile was always helplessly bewitching. Fuji made sure of it. Fuji took Shirashi's wrist as the man neared the bed. He guided the man's hand between his legs and rested the cool fingers against his thigh.

"Here." The boy looked at him, "Help me."

Shirashi's hands were not clumsy at all.