Disclaimer: I by no means own any of the rights to the Clamp manga story of Legal Drug or its characters.

Second Sunday

By Crystal Delphina

Completed: May 29, 2008

Part II of IV

Inventory of the entire store usually only happened once a month, though there had been the rare occasion when Kakei would make them do it twice if their other "jobs" were lacking; they had to earn their keep someway. Inventory was a whole day affair on Sundays that required the employees to be awake and down in the store by eight. They would consider themselves lucky if they were able to leave by nine or ten that night. On at least two occasions, they did not turn off the store lights until well after midnight during the bustling holiday seasons. During those inventory adventures from hell, as the time approached 11:30, Kazahaya had contemplated just making up numbers from rough estimates by looking at the shelves, but sadly he then remembered that he worked for a psychic.

Initially, the thirty minute lunch break at noon had come just in time for Kazahaya, who had been starving after just the first hour despite his well sized breakfast. But now it was four; lunch had come and gone, and hungry once more, he wasn't sure if he could hold out until the small dinner break they had at 6. To add insult to injury, he was a tad irritated that he had been designated the job of counting the remaining boxes and packages of snacks since he supposedly was the only employee that "could be trusted to not consume them at the same time as counting them." Personally, he was under the impression that Rikuo possessed enough self-control and will power to not rip open the first chocolate bar he came across. On the other hand, perhaps he was giving the guy too much credit and Kakei had learned otherwise prior to Kazahaya's employment at the Green Drugstore. Regardless, if it got him out of standing on anymore ladders for the day, he figured he could ignore the gnawing sensation in his stomach only made worse by the assorted marketing gimmicks on the packaging to make the food it contained look irresistible… Damnit, he could resist! Though he couldn't control the small growl that emitted from his stomach.

"Hungry there, muffin?" a voice murmured next to his ear. Of course he knew it was Rikuo; he'd actually been waiting for his next "attack" seeing as he had left him alone for nearly an hour and a half in the small store. But the question wasn't why the green eyed man felt the need to sneak up on him, but how. How the hell did he manage to do it? Without any detection whatsoever? Was Kazahaya really that oblivious to his surroundings? He liked to think of himself as a fairly observant individual but Rikuo seemed determined to squash that small bit of self-confidence time and time again.

He turned his head to the side to glance at his co-worker using his periphery vision. "No I'm not hungry," he replied, deciding to ignore the oddly affectionate use of a baked good. He turned back to his work trying to remember what the count of gummy fruit snacks had been before he'd been interrupted. "That's a shame," Rikuo whispered and the brunette suddenly felt a hand trailing its way from his shoulder down the length of his arm and back up. "because I thought I'd offer you a snack." Lips; those were definitely lips on the back of his neck. Sheer panic began to set in; no matter how distracting those lips were and how the thought of letting him continue at the moment was tempting or even how he was willing to let that terribly cheesy line go unmentioned, he would not be seduced in the middle of Green Drugstore - especially not with his boss and the pervert lurking around somewhere waiting to catch them in the act. This needed to end now.

"Rikuo," he growled lowly, trying to send a warning to the young man behind him. However he had to admit that it was far from intimidating and if anything, could have been mistaken for a moan as well – perhaps because it had partly been one. The gentle suction on the side of his neck followed by the warm sweep of a tongue had been poor timing to try and say something to encourage the dark haired teenager to go away. Determined to prevail however and wanting to ignore the warm feelings beginning to spread across his body, Kazahaya turned around to face Rikuo and demand he leave at once. The only problem with his plan however was that the moment he was facing him, it provided Rikuo the perfect opportunity to press a kiss to Kazahaya's mouth; the same mouth that was already partially opened to begin his mini tirade, providing further tactical advantage for his enemy.

Soft lips touched his own and he could feel a small puff of Rikuo's breath enter his mouth as a gentle tongue slowly emerged to teasingly trace along his bottom lip without actually entering. Rikuo was enticing the fairer haired boy to willingly allow him entrance, and Kazahaya was certainly enticed. On their own accord, his hands came up to loosely hold onto Rikuo's strong biceps as his own tongue briefly flickered out to meet its visitor. Just as his mouth began to open wider and hands slid down to slightly grip his hips, the inevitable happened.

"Rikuo! Where are you?" Both boys had frozen at the first sound of Rikuo's name and before Kakei had even started to inquire as to where his employee was hiding in the store, Kazahaya had managed to rapidly gain the ability to blend in with a crate of strawberries - though that unnatural talent seemed like it wouldn't be highly marketable in their field of expertise. Rikuo on the other hand looked rather… strained. Through gritted teeth he managed to give a reply of "I'll be right there," reluctantly detaching himself from the still stricken empath. In fact, after starring at him for a few seconds to see if his state would change, he simply left to go find his boss when there was no indication of an immediate response, and instead muttered, "See you later cupcake."

When the brain finally began to restart its engines, his stupor finally dissipating and the reality of what had just transpired finally set in, Kazahaya wanted to give a howl of anguish. Granted he'd never really heard one but he was pretty sure he had a good idea of what it would sound like at this point: most likely a few obscenities mixed in with the cursing of Rikuo's name in addition to some wailing in embarrassment for good measure. Then demanding why the hell he was being called things like "muffin" and "cupcake" all of a sudden.

This couldn't keep going on. Already he had allowed Rikuo to kiss him four times during the day, not including the morning kiss when he had first arisen from bed. And during each occurrence, his iron-like will would crumble quicker than, well – quicker than something that would make iron crumble. Quite frankly he was impressed that he had managed to hold out a full minute this time. He couldn't allow himself to become so easily distracted - so easily lured - by a pair of dark green eyes, messy black hair, and lips that were too perfect for mere words. He was going to lose his job! Or was going to be teased mercilessly by Saiga! Surprisingly, both were equally horrific in his mind.

Wait – when the hell had Rikuo's lips become "too perfect for mere words?" What the hell was he reading these days that provided him with such utter garbage? He had to suppress the small gag reflex that seemed to magically appear out of nowhere with the realization of his sappy word choice.

He began griping under his breath as he turned back to his shelf of never ending snacks. And then he really did contemplate howling when he realized he was still hungry, the gnawing feeling temporarily forgotten before because of the previous state of emergency. Granted, Rikuo had provided the distraction (aka "snack") that he'd promised to help Kazahaya forget about his hunger but at this point he was too bitter to admit to it. He hit his head on the shelf in front of him and cursed that dinner was still an hour and a half away.

--

Twenty minutes. He only had to survive a mere twenty minutes more before he finally would be able to go upstairs and eat. And a forty-five minute break to pacify his body's cries of starvation before he was forced to wrap up the day of inventory. But thankfully, by all predictions, they would be done by no later than 9. Maybe even 8:30 if they moved quickly enough with the last bits of counting, organizing the paperwork, and cleaning of the store. Eager to do what he could now since his assigned counting jobs were completed, he grabbed the rag out of the pocket of his apron and began cleaning the shelves on his aisle. Humming softly to himself, the day finally beginning to look up (although technically it was now dark outside), he was relishing in the idea of being able to take a shower when he was finally finished for the day.

He wasn't exactly sure as to why or even how, but suddenly the daydream of his nice hot relaxing shower changed. There he was with the new soap he recently bought that smelled musky but subtle and clean, glad to be getting rid of the grime and dust he'd undoubtedly collected on his person during the day. And there was the joy of shampooing his hair with Rikuo's shampoo that he always stole because he liked the citrus smell better than his own strawberry kiwi shit he'd unknowingly purchased (Kazahaya was a boy who enjoyed taking pleasure in the simple things in life). And there he was, warm, sudsy, clean, relaxed, and most certainly – not alone.

Why was Rikuo in his dream shower with him? Naked?? And why were they kissing and touching, and – oh god! What was that they were doing?? Why was he now breathing harder and feeling - antsy? What was his subconscious doing to him? And why, for the love of the gods, did he like whatever it was doing, his devilish imagination quickly running rampant and spawning multiple scenarios that involved more than just a shower.

Pausing in his mindless dusting and his inane self-interrogation, he glanced around the store worried that perhaps the three other men were staring at him since he most likely was sporting a nice flush and glazed look because of his little tryst into shower fantasyland. Thankfully Kakei was up at the front pouring over papers scattered on the counter, checking between the recorded numbers and filling out order forms for new supplies. And it seemed Saiga was still in the back reorganizing something with the other employee's help. At least that would have been the case if Rikuo hadn't walked out of the door marked "Employees Only" the moment after Kazahaya began looking that direction. Their gazes locked immediately, dark green eyes narrowing at the sight of the brunette, and long strides made his approach a quick affair. Kazahaya couldn't help but to examine his roommate's form as he drew nearer, his eyes climbing up the long torso and chest, noticing the curve of his neck, and lingering on his lips before finally meeting the dark gaze. "What's up?" he murmured when Rikuo stopped in front of him, managing to squash the temptation to give the strong neck another appreciative look.

"Saiga said I could go since we finished," he paused, intently examining Kazahaya and his subsequent expression. The shorter boy seemed… distracted. Ignoring the observation, Rikuo took another step forward, further invading any sense of personal space. "I'll go start dinner since we're short on time. What do you want?"

'You,' was the immediate answer or at least would have been if Kazahaya, thankfully, didn't have some semblance of control left over his tongue despite the traitorous efforts of his subconscious to prove otherwise. Instead he turned back to dragging his dust rag across the now rather clean shelf, subsequently making their positions perpendicular to each other. "Anything's fine. I don't really care," he replied casually – or at least what he hoped was casually. "Just do something quick and easy."

A slow and steady stream of tension began to mount between the two, resulting in both boys being hyperaware of the other's proximity, small movements, and the very pattern of their breathing. Rikuo had to bite his tongue at the urge to give a terribly easy retort implying something along the lines that his roommate was either quick, easy, or both – in a very carnal sense. Instead, he nodded his head once in silent confirmation and began to walk past him towards the front of the store. As he passed, his fingers came out to lightly touch Kazahaya's hip and trail along the small of his back. The empath was barely able to catch the "Hurry up," that the taller boy mumbled under his breath. He felt a small electric pulse go through his body that stirred twinges of excitement.

Heading up to their shared apartment, Rikuo pulled up on the garage-door-style metal security sheeting covering the entrance to the store and then shut it behind him. Throughout the entire process, Kazahaya's eyes never left the dark haired youth. After the door had been closed for several seconds, with no signs of magically reopening on its own and revealing a waiting Rikuo, Kazahaya's eyes swept over the rest of the store – only to find his employer staring at him pointedly. A small surprised sound escaped through his lips and his former "twinges" stilled. He bit the inside of his cheek, a nervous habit, when Kakei motioned for him to come to the counter. Cursing his bad luck, Kazahaya left his rag on the shelf and walked to the front of the store with his feet shuffling the entire way.

"Yes?" he asked dutifully, hoping Kakei would just be giving him one more last minute job. "Anything you'd like to tell me?" his boss said with a faint smirk. Now Kazahaya wanted a job. "No," he ruefully replied, a glare beginning to form from barely veiled suspicion. The older man merely chuckled and gave a shake of his head. "That's alright; it's not as if it isn't obvious anyway. How long has this been going on exactly anyway?"

Weighing the matter carefully in his head, Kazahaya reached two conclusions: A) he tell Kakei the truth and just get the humiliation over with or B) he lie, deny, and bribe if need be to keep the man from asking him anything further. He could go a few jobs without pay; it wasn't as if he were completely flat broke, starving, and desperate for money or anything, willing to take odd jobs (and we mean odd) no matter what they may involve, short of outright prostitution.

Oh… right.

The truth of the matter was that, to some degree, he trusted his employer despite his history of devious and questionable actions. Plus he knew that he was going to find out eventually, if he wasn't already fully well aware of the situation. The man was a psychic; he had a knack for these sort of things and was paid to solve supernatural mysteries – or send his minions to do the hard work of solving them. Really, the younger man had no choice and was forced to just bite the bullet.

"A few weeks," he muttered through gritted teeth, managing to remarkably keep from blushing. Kakei looked expectant though and Kazahaya was forced to clarify further. "Since the last stocking of… since the third Tuesday shipment of last month." Instead of the small chuckle at Kazahaya's uncomfortably or even a squeal of excitement for his charges' budding romance, as Kazahaya was expecting, Kakei grimaced instead, his face drawn tight in obvious displeasure. "Damn," Kakei mumbled, seeming to momentarily forget all about the teenager standing in front of him as his brow furrowed in distress. Confused (for good reason) Kazahaya forced him to refocus his attention. "Wait! Why? What's wrong?" Maybe Rikuo was actually an evil assassin that Kakei was kind enough to harbor but it was all a big secret that Kazahaya wasn't meant to know and it was actually terribly dangerous for him to get involved and he could be killed if –

"I owe Saiga 5,000 ¥ now…" Kakei said darkly, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh. And he'd been so confident too; he thought it'd only happened last week when Kazahaya had thrown a passive aggressive fit when some girl had been interested in Rikuo. Damn. In actuality, he'd owe Saiga more than just money, but his employee certainly didn't need to know that. Especially considering the fact that the younger boy's eyebrow already seemed to be twitching in annoyance and his lips were pursed in an attempt to contain any ill suited words directed towards his boss for betting on him. No matter; Kakei could deal with the ramifications of his poor gambling choices later. He decided the best course of action would be to further his inquiry. "Well, how are things going?"

"Fine." That was it. That was all Kakei was getting and Kazahaya would be damned if the man actually thought he'd be getting any details on the matter. If he really wanted to know, he could probably read his mind to figure it out. "Well that's good to hear," the psychic smiled up at him, seemingly unfazed by Kazahaya's tight lipped behavior. He gave a curt nod, hoping to end the conversation, and began to turn back towards his poor forgotten rag. "Is the sex good?"

In mid step, Kazahaya managed to do a flawless pivot and redirect himself back towards the counter so he was able to properly glare at the older man sitting calmly behind the counter with a smile. He was bristling and Kakei wasn't sure if he was red from embarrassment or indignation – most likely a combination of both. "What do you mean 'is the sex good!?' How the hell is that any of your business!?" So it seemed it was more anger than embarrassment since he wasn't spluttering with his answer. "I was just curious Kudou-kun. You don't need to answer if you don't feel comfortable doing so," Kakei said trying to placate the young man.

"It's not that I don't feel comfortable doing so. As I said, it's really none of your business." He paused for a second and then as more of an afterthought to himself, he muttered, "we just… haven't done it yet." At first, Kakei nodded his head in understanding. That was until a proverbial light bulb went off in his head and he enthusiastically smiled exclaiming, "Really?? That means Saiga owes me 10,000 ¥!!"

"Okay! That's it! It's six - I'm taking my break now," he shouted, heading towards the door while simultaneously taking off his apron. "You guys are sick, you know that? I can't believe you bet on us. On sex nonetheless," he continued ranting as he threw up the metal security door to head out. He was looking forward to slamming it behind him to give Kakei a real piece of his mind but was stopped by a stern, "Kazahaya." Begrudgingly he turned back to look, hoping he wasn't getting a pay dock for being so forward with his boss.

"Despite what you may think, both Saiga and I actually care about your welfare. And Rikuo's," he added, all vestiges of teasing replaced by a quiet and serious tone as he looked Kazahaya directly in the eyes. "If you need to talk to either of us, than do so." Stillness stretched between them, Kazahaya carefully weighing the other man's words and believing every word he said. When he gave no indication though that he was going to respond, Kakei sighed. "You're dismissed. See you in 45." And with that he turned back to his order forms. Kazahaya wasn't sure if Kakei saw the small nod and smile that he gave him before closing the door behind him but he figured Kakei must know to some degree that he was grateful; the man was psychic after all.

He flew up the metal stairs attached to the building, rushing to get to his apartment, dinner, and most importantly, Rikuo.

--

The door slammed shut behind him and he swiftly surveyed the open area of the combined living room and kitchen with no Rikuo in sight. Technically speaking, while the apartment could be considered spacious, in actuality the "apartment" was only a large space that had no walls. The only device used to separate the large open area into actual living quarters were curtains; one that split the original space in half, to separate the bedrooms from the kitchen and living room, and another that separated the allotted bedroom space in half perpendicularly, creating the division between his "room" and Rikuo's. They had a full functioning western style bathroom though, the toilet and shower in the same room, set into the wall on the "living room" side of the larger space. Thank the gods that the bathroom had walls at least; despite Kakei's kind offer, Kazahaya probably would have chosen to freeze to death than stay somewhere where the toilet was behind a mere curtain. Although the apartment was rather sparse in furnishings – with only the limited kitchen fixtures, their beds and dressers – it was still home. Recently Kazahaya and Rikuo had scrapped together enough money to actually buy a small kitchen table and two chairs, though Rikuo still occasionally opted to sit on the floor to drink his morning coffee and read the newspaper. Kazahaya was aiming to try and buy a couch next, just to have something to sit on other than the options of his bed, the floor, or the new chairs. Rikuo wasn't so keen to the idea though when he had made his proposal though, complaining that it would be an unnecessary purchase.

After throwing his apron on a hook by the door, he began marching across the apartment towards Rikuo's "bedroom". Just as he approached the curtain and raised his hand to part the stiff white linen, the material flew back on its own startling Kazahaya to the point where he involuntarily emitted a small surprised yelp. Rikuo's hands came up to rest on Kazahya's waist to settle him down while he merely looked at him with his patented calm and cool disinterested gaze as he inspected the wide-eyed Kazahaya. "That took longer than expected," Rikuo said, smirking down at him. "Yea, well Kakei wanted to have a little heart to heart," Kazahaya spat back, still slightly miffed at the encounter. A slight raise of an eyebrow was the only indication that Rikuo was surprised. "Oh? About what?"

"Never mind," he replied, with a shake of his head. He didn't particularly feel like divulging the details of the mini-interrogation. "Is dinner ready?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yea, the hot water's in the pot and your instant ramen bowl is in the cupboard ready and waiting."

"What??" he balked, taking a step back and out of Rikuo's grasp. "You said you were making dinner you jerk. I figured that would involve more than hot water and styrofoam," he glared and pointed an accusatory finger at the taller boy's chest, making sure to give it a nice jab when he called him a "jerk" to emphasize the point. He was starving - had been starving for the better part of two hours now - and Rikuo thought instant ramen would be the solution? That just wasn't acceptable. "Damnit, never mind. I don't have time for this. I'll just go make something myself," he said with a huff, turning away.

"Relax." A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back in front of Rikuo. The glaring was not abated. "I was just kidding you idiot. Dinner will be ready in about fifteen. I just needed to hop in the shower and I had just finished changing when you came in. I was just going to check on it before you decided to barge in on me." Although the glare subsided, it did not disappear completely considering the dark haired young man still looked rather smug and haughty as he smirked down at his roommate. However, Kazahaya did notice for the first time that Rikuo's hair was indeed wet and sticking out at a few odd angles in some places.

"I hate you Himura," Kazahaya said lowly. "No you don't," he replied easily, leaning down to firmly press his lips against Kazahaya's to silence any further disparaging remarks. At first the irritated psychic didn't kiss back, determined to teach the haughty young man a lesson. But persistent as always, Rikuo pressed slightly harder with his tongue sneaking out to trace along his bottom lip again and Kazahaya slowly conceded allowing his eyes to slide shut and his mouth to slightly part, pressing back and into Rikuo. The hand holding his wrist gave a small but insistent tug indicating they should be closer. Stubborn as usual though he refused and even broke off the kiss to mumble against Rikuo's lips. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Curry rice," he murmured back, wanting to resume the kiss. Why the hell did he need to know what was for dinner now?

"Oh. So those would be the vegetables I hear boiling over?" A moment's pause then "…shit," and Rikuo resentfully pulled away, dropping Kazahaya's hand to go check on the food that was potentially becoming mush. Rikuo glowered at the shorter man as he passed him and cursed the superior look he sported. God he wanted to kiss that damn smirk away. "Just go take a shower. Dinner will be done by the time you're out," he bitterly said over his shoulder as he walked across the apartment to the small stovetop. Kazahaya gave a large grin when Rikuo was fully preoccupied with preparing dinner. 'Score one for Kazhaya,' he thought, gloating to himself.

He headed towards the bathroom. Sure they still had work left but most of it was easy from here on out and he felt disgusting already. Plus if he had to take one later, no one ever said two showers in a day was a horrible thing. And if he didn't do something to distract himself, he'd either think about his current state of starvation or his sudden appetite for Rikuo. Neither sounded too appealing to dwell on at the moment, so into the shower we went still grinning; he had new soap to use and citrus shampoo to steal.

--

Dinner had been an intriguing affair. They sat across from each other, gave thanks for their meal, and then were quiet for the entirety of it aside from the initial complaints about the long work day at the drugstore. But after those two minutes of demonstrating their awe-inspiring conversational skills, silence kept them company for the rest of the meal. It wasn't necessarily an uncomfortable silence though. Rikuo mutely kept his dark eyes trained on Kazahaya, seemingly examining every aspect of the other's face and the smaller man was proud of himself when he didn't blush or avert his eyes from the powerful gaze in embarrassment. In fact he managed to match it, peering at Rikuo just as intently, resulting in an odd staring contest between the two aside from when they concentrated on their meal. It had been somewhere around the point when Kazahaya had looked up from his own meal to see Rikuo licking his lips - supposedly cleaning them from the bite of curry he'd just eaten - that he made a realization. That act had been purely for show with the intent of drawing Kazahaya's eyes to Rikuo's lips, which he had successfully accomplished. Rikuo was playing with him!

After his brilliant epiphany, a round of "accidental" touches ensued between the two: Kazahaya's foot rubbing against the other's under the table, the passing of a glass for a refill with fingers grazing, Rikuo indicating Kazahaya had a drop of curry on his chin and instead of letting the capable young man take care of it himself, Rikuo rose slightly from his chair to reach across the table and wipe it away with his thumb. The completely rational response to this action was Kazahaya starring at him absolutely dumbstruck, his mouth slightly agape in surprise. But throughout the whole ordeal of dinner they said nothing and the customary thanks for the meal when they were done seemed out of place in the still atmosphere that had formed.

He could feel jade eyes roving over him, could feel the heat radiating off of the body sitting across the table, and could feel it all beginning to slowly melt him. And he could feel his every muscle twitching in anticipation, taunt and ready to be released from the tension and mutual intrigue. And so that is what caused him to get up from his seat; to seize control of the situation and take the initiative –

In clearing the table.

As tempting as it was to take advantage of the obvious situation that had been presented – and he was certainly tempted – they unfortunately had work in less than fifteen minutes. Meaning they had to have aprons on, look presentable and be standing in the store waiting for instructions in less than fifteen minutes - emphasis on the looking presentable aspect. Now was not the time to go frolic in make out land. So, being the rational young man that he was, Kazahaya removed himself from the quickly escalating situation, opting to clean up after the dinner Rikuo had made. Really, he was doing what was best for both of them if they wanted to keep their jobs. But sadly, his obvious infinite wisdom was lost on his roommate.

As he picked up the dishes, Rikuo's look was a mixture of annoyance and surprise. "What're you doing?" If he didn't know Rikuo as well as he did, it would have almost sounded as if he were pouting. But that thought was quickly disregarded for its sheer ludicrousness and he threw the dishes into the sick, turning on the water with a small huff. "I'm cleaning up. What does it look like?"

"I see that thank you very much," he dryly muttered with a frown. "I'm wondering why."

He could have provided the obvious and sarcastic answer of "you cooked therefore I clean." He even could have provided the truth (a quite uncharacteristic move) by stating "despite the current desire to be kissed senseless right now, we have work." Instead, the brunette just choose to ignore the other young man altogether and began quickly scrubbing dishes. As to be expected, Rikuo did not take that approach kindly and glowered at the smaller psychic when he recognized the evasive new tactic. The narrowing of forest green eyes did not bode well for the fate of his comrade.

Kazahaya heard the chair grating against the tile flooring as it moved back from the table, he heard the four heavy footsteps it took to make it from the table to the sink, and he heard the rustle of fabric as Rikuo's arms came up to encircle his waist and draw him backwards towards his chest and away from the sink while simultaneously beginning to press small kisses to Kazahaya's neck. He also felt his elbow connect just below Rikuo's ribs as he shoved it backwards with barely restrained force, "God Damnit Rikuo! Get off!" When his partner refused to budge, the jab seeming to have no effect, he repeated the action harder hoping to actually make the monolith behind him feel some pain. "I said get off daminit!" he fumed, quickly becoming irritated as the water was running and dishes weren't being cleaned. "Can't you control your incessant need to molest me for a minute?"

"No." With that simple declaration, he was quickly turned around till the edge of the counter bit sharply into his lower back. Opening his mouth to let out a barrage of verbal insults, he was cut short by Rikuo hastily kissing him. It was a kiss that was combination of trying to gently coax Kazahaya into reciprocation and a kiss of barely contained need. If it had just been the usual affair of a few weeks ago, Kazahaya would have quickly shoved him away and would have abruptly left the scene from mild embarrassment and Rikuo would have merely chuckled, since in all likelihood, he would have just been teasing his easily irritable roommate to get a rise out of him.

However this wasn't a few weeks ago; things had changed since then and that ":need" he felt coming from his cohort, no matter how small, only amplified his own. So instead of pushing his assailant away, he brought his hands up to tangle in short dark locks of hair, opening his mouth further to allow his tongue to skirmish with Rikuo's while his eyes slid shut. The hands around his waist reflexively tightened when he pulled Rikuo's head down closer to his own to deepen the kiss.

Mild hints of curry seasoned the kiss along with the deeper taste that Kazahaya had come to know as being uniquely Rikuo's, as the persistent tongue managed to enter his mouth. The smaller young man felt a small burning sensation make its way from the tip of his tongue and course throughout the entire length of his body; he had a feeling it wasn't from the curry spices. Despite the pleasurable experience he was partaking in, the edge of the counter was still sticking painfully into his back with how tightly Rikuo pressed him against it. Without thinking, he squirmed to try and alleviate some of the pressure, simultaneously pushing out towards the taller young man. His "innocent" action caused Rikuo to emit a low moan against his mouth. The attempted readjustment seemed completely counterproductive when instead of creating distance between the counter and his back, he was crushed against it in renewed fervor. Rikuo took full advantage of Kazahaya's gasp of surprise by pushing his tongue into his mouth and methodically squeezing his waist, causing his companion to completely disregard the pain. Fingers, which had previously been preoccupied with combing through Rikuo's obsidian hair, moved their way down above his shoulder blades to grip the cloth of his black shirt.

He felt his lungs beginning to burn, the lack of fresh air taking its toll. He couldn't seem to breathe properly through his nose and his mouth was obviously preoccupied with other – better – things. The immediate feeling of needing to be fulfilled in some fashion had kept both young men frantically warring with each other's mouths but Rikuo was the first to slowly pull away, the pain filling his lungs beginning to be too much to handle. Kazahaya was actually thankful to some extent due to him feeling lightheaded and slightly drowsy from their prolonged activity and the apparent inability for him to form a coherent thought. He dimly realized that he could hear the water still running full blast behind him but couldn't bring himself to be concerned enough to turn around and shut it off. So the water bill was a few yen more expensive? Who really cared?

He lazily opened his eyes, peering up at Rikuo who was breathing just as harshly as himself. He threw a small smile to the taller boy and Rikuo only gave an indication of a smirk as warning before he pressed against Kazahaya again; the difference this time was that he moved his left leg in between Kazahaya's while doing so, his knee bumping into the cupboard door behind. He received his desired response when Kazahaya's eyes fluttered closed again and the smile disappeared to give way to a small breathe exhaled quickly in surprise. Rikuo managed, in that single move, to bring Kazahaya's full undivided attention to the proof of his growing arousal that he had been miraculously unaware of. Not to be outdone however, the shorter young man used his hold on the other psychic's shirt to pull him further against him while pressing upwards at the same time. His own leg, consequently between Rikuo's, pressed firmly against the partially hard length. Rikuo gave a small hiss and involuntarily jerked against his comrade. Enjoying the response, Kazahaya repeated the action and was pleased when Rikuo reciprocated, not minding the counter edge as his thoughts were concerned with more important things. Before either of them could really be sure what was happening, a back and forth motion formed of pushing against one another attempting to achieve enough friction between their bodies to be felt through the thick material of Kazahaya's cargo pants and the denim of Rikuo's baggy jeans.

Nothing to this degree had happened before between the two; their small makeout sessions before seemed like splashing in a puddle in comparison to this new pool to dive into that had suddenly become available. Kazahaya tipped his head up slightly, brushing his lips lightly against Rikuo's, their breath mixing in the small gap between their mouths from their panting. The brief contact of their lips while the rest of their bodies couldn't seem to get close enough caused a new electric current to pulse through his body. Rikuo leaned further forward, his lips making a small trail from the corner of Kazahaya's mouth to his ear, nipping at the lobe there accompanied by a particularly hard grind forcing Kazahaya's coherency to momentarily stumble. Instead of moving back and continuing their building momentum, Rikuo stilled his movements and kept Kazahaya pinned, his strangled breathing sounding thunderous so close to Kazahaya's ear. "Kazahaya…"

The empath took a particularly large gulp of air trying to calm his frazzled senses and regain control of his tongue for verbal communication purposes. "What?" He shifted his weight from his right to his left foot and Rikuo had to bite back the urge to groan and push against him again. Instead he gave a small – albeit reluctant – sigh. "We have to stop," and when Kazahaya didn't respond from apparent confusion as to why the hell they'd be stopping, "we have work." It took all of three seconds for the drug-like intoxicating haze that had been in amber eyes for the better part of fifteen minutes to lift completely. By the time Rikuo had pulled away to look down at him, his eyes had shifted from the deep dark gold color of arousal to a bright gold alight with fire and… what looked to be infuriation. "Damnit! Rikuo! You…you…couldn't you just – Argh!" He growled in frustration, unable to fully express his displeasure with his roommate in any succinct fashion. Rikuo shrugged, ignoring the heated glare, and reached past the shorter man to finally turn off the water. "What? Would you rather that I not have told you and we be late? Or not show at all?"

"No! I wish you hadn't started this mess in the first place!" Rikuo had to admit that his roommate kind of had him there. Kazahaya had obviously attempted to take preventative measures to keep…well, to keep whatever had just happened from happening, but he certainly wasn't going to confess to the accused crime. "You seemed like you were enjoying it to me."

"That's not the point you jerk!" Kazahaya yelled and then crossly pushed past him to head towards the door. A glance at the clock on the wall informed him he only had about thirty seconds until he was considered officially a minute late. He assumed that his co-worker was following in his angry footsteps but frankly didn't care if he was. He gave thanks though to whatever higher beings there were for long green aprons to conceal uncomfortable and awkward looking bulges from his landlords. When he got to the door, he yanked his apron off the hook and hastily threw it on while fumbling with tying the two strings behind his back. "Honestly," he mumbled when Rikuo calmly reached out for his own, "two hours. You only had to wait two fucking hours Rikuo. But nooo. You had to go and kiss me while I was trying to clean up. And I had been kidding about the molesting thing too you know." His knot completed, he frowned when Rikuo only shrugged in response as he finished tying his apron. Fed up, he turned away reaching out and flinging the door open fully prepared to stalk out the apartment.

"I could have waited." He froze, curious to see how Rikuo would finish that statement. "But you looked like you couldn't. So I thought I'd do you a favor."

"What?" he asked truly dumbfounded. Rikuo stepped around him to stand in the doorframe and turned his head to look back and smirk. "You think I didn't notice you staring at me in the store and over dinner? Admit it Kazahaya - you were practically ready to jump me the moment you came through the door. I was only giving you what you wanted."

He would have screeched in fury or even repeated his query again just to make sure Rikuo had really just spouted such garbage if the other young man hadn't already disappeared around the corner, heading down the stairs with a small self-satisfied chuckle. Kazahaya replayed Rikuo's words in his head one more time, flabbergasted more than anything else really. Instead of the typical response one might expect from the lighter haired young man - such as the previously mentioned screeching or even blushing from embarrassment – a strange phenomenon occurred. Kazahaya gave a smile; a small wicked smile that reached up into his eyes with apparent glee. His hand slid down into the front pocket of his apron, fingering his small secret weapon he had procured earlier. He'd have to act quickly though to make sure he attacked before Rikuo entered the store. Knowing that bastard, he was probably sauntering down the stairs still radiating in the afterglow of his own ego. He hastily tore open the package leaving the wrapper on the floor as the door slammed shut behind him already alight down the first few steps down the stairs.

This was war; he was determined to strike the first blow and hopefully – win.

--

Rikuo had just bent down to open the metal sliding door to enter the drugstore when he heard heavy footsteps on the metal staircase, apparently racing down. He pulled the door part of the way up as he stood to his full height to look back the way he'd just came, curious as to what highly amusing comeback Kazahaya had crafted this time. Just as expected, his roommate shot out from around the corner giving a wide grin when he found Rikuo still outside the store. Before there was time for the other psychic to react, Kazahaya stepped forward and grabbed the back of Rikuo's neck to force the taller boy down into a kiss, one he certainly was not prepared for. For the first time that day in all of their mini-encounters, Kazahaya had accomplished the impossible task of invading Rikuo's slack mouth due to his surprise. And when Kazahaya was sure his tongue had swept every warm moist corner, he pulled away as quickly as he had moved forward. Rikuo continued to stand stalk still, staring straight in front of him at the space Kazahaya had just previously occupied even as the roguish boy bent down to enter under the door Rikuo still held partially propped open in his stupor. Before he disappeared into the store he threw a smirk over his shoulder back at his co-worker. "Let's see who will be wanting whom now, ne Rikuo?"

Dark green eyes turned just in time to catch a glimpse of the lower half of Kazahaya's body flee into the drugstore.

His mind quickly ran over the sensory information it had just received in the past thirty seconds. The tip of his tongue was still sweet from the taste of Kazahaya – and chocolate. And he wanted more of both. Now.

Rikuo gave a mental groan, realizing exactly what the idiot had managed to accomplish. He too was thankful for the concealing power of the all powerful green apron as he ducked under the door to enter the store. A mental countdown started in his head till he would finally be finished and free from the second Sunday of the month.

Too bad for him he still had at least an hour to go.

--

A.N.: I would like to thank all of you that have taken time to not only read this story thus far but review it as well. You have no idea how those few reviews made me very pleased and encouraged me to get my butt in gear and finish editing this chapter and get it posted. I look forward to further commentary and having the next chapter come up hopefully soon.