A/N: Although it says 'The End' at the conclusion of chapter six, I came up with this idea for an additional chapter…and there's no guarantee there won't be further chapters, either ;)

Timeline: The day after chapter 6.

Akashi Satoru woke with a smile on his face, although he woke alone and in his own bed.

The memories of what had happened between him and Eiji a few hours ago in the Dazzling Adventurer's room remained so fresh in his mind that he could still almost feel the pressure and the heat of the other man's body on him whenever he closed his eyes again.

He indulged in only a few moments of delicious memories, however, for he was Chief and therefore would lead with the wrong example if he arrived at work too late this morning.

Twenty minutes later he was walking down the dormitory hallway, his steps slowing inadvertently as he neared Eiji's door, and before he knew it, he was ringing his partner's buzzer. Maybe Eiji was up for some breakfast before work…

After the third buzzing, Satoru had to concede that Eiji had most likely beaten him to the punch for the cafeteria. With a shrug, he resumed his walk down the hall.

'Well, he did get some more sleep than I did…'

There was no sight of the handsome Ashu-watcher in the cafeteria, however, so Satoru felt no particular reason to linger there, either. He simply grabbed a roll and headed towards the common room where the rest of the team was already assembled and ready for the day – everyone but Eiji.

Satoru wasn't worried, and the others didn't look like they were, either. They were all used to their newest teammember's wandering nature. Eiji was probably roaming the city or the outskirts of it. He'd be back.

After the usual routine of a round of 'Good Mornings' and a mug of coffee from the hotplate in the corner, Satoru joined his fellow Boukengers at the funny-shaped table to discuss the day's agenda.

Paperwork. Joy.

Efficient as always, Sakura distributed the work between them all. There were the reports from yesterday's battle with the Questers and Eiji's rescue mission to write up, as well as quite a few older mission reports to look over. Soon the command table was stacked with piles of papers and the SGS's treasure hunters were absorbed in their tasks of comparing notes and exchanging information to assure the accuracy of those past reports.

If any of them suspected that Satoru had spent most of the night in Eiji's bed, they certainly didn't let on, and the chief was grateful to them for their ready acceptance of his changed relationship with Eiji.

Souta was teasing Masumi about him tripping and actually falling over the Precious they had collected last week, an allegation Masumi vehemently denied. Sakura took Souta's side, whereas Natsuki defended Masumi's surefootedness, and before long Satoru found himself in the role of arbitrator to settle the disagreement. Amused, Chief pretended to think the matter over for a moment before he decided the case in favor of Souta.

BoukenBlack's protests were smothered with more lighthearted teasings for a few more minutes, but eventually, they all settled back down to their tasks at hand.

Over the top of his clipboard, Satoru cast a surreptitious look at Sakura, who was perched in front of her open laptop computer. She was not looking at him, but Satoru could sense no downright hostility from his sub-chief. The aura she conveyed was more that of resignation, and it gave Satoru the budding hope that, with time, they could find some way to resume at least some form of their old camaraderie. Only time would tell, though.

Nearly two hours later, the doors of the rec room swished open to admit a grinning Takaoka Eiji nibbling on a carrot.

"Morning."

"Morning?" Masumi echoed. "It's almost noon, and we've all been here for hours already. You should check your schedule sometimes."

"We have schedules?" Eiji asked innocently, then gave his grumbling teammate a smirk and simply sauntered past him.

When he passed the command table, another one of the orange vegetables suddenly appeared as if by magic in his other hand and Eiji held it out to Satoru, pointy tip first.

"Carrot?" he asked with a grin that was both cheeky and suggestive.

Satoru was going for the wry look, but couldn't quite manage to keep the amusement out of his face. "No, thank you."

Eiji winked at him, but made no move towards any closer contact. He obviously remembered Satoru's words from last night. When we're on duty, it's work, but afterwards…

Instead, he let his eyes roam over the stacks of forms on the table. "So, what are you all doing?"

"Catching up on paperwork and reports," Sakura informed him with only the quickest of glances in his direction.

"Ah, naptime, then," Eiji declared and promptly resumed his stroll towards the short set of stairs that led to the elevated platform and the lounge chair. He lowered his tall frame into the cushions with a satisfied sigh. "Just wake me when there's some action going on," he said to no one in particular, eyes already closing.

"What? Ten hours of sleep not enough for you?"

Eiji cracked an eyelid open at Masumi's sarcastic voice and favored him with a smirk. "I didn't get anywhere near that much rest last night. My sleep space got invaded."

The team's reaction to that statement was uniform and instantaneous. Four heads turned, four pairs of eyes settled pointedly on Chief Akashi, and four faces formed expressions anywhere between amusement and wryness.

To his dismay, Satoru could feel a blush heating up his cheeks.

Too late to feint insouciance, but he did it anyway. Nonchalantly, he raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're all looking at. I slept just fine last night," he said, then took an extended sip of coffee. He tried to ignore the assorted knowing grins and snickers he received by pretending to read through a report, but couldn't quite keep the smile forming at the corners of his mouth away. That only prompted more chuckles from the team as well as a distinct snort from the direction of the platform's recliner.

Not long after they had settled back into 'work mode', however, Sakura suddenly rose and crossed the distance to the lounge chair with determined strides.

Hovering over him, the pink-clad girl held out a clipboard to Eiji. The Dazzling Adventurer made a show of groaning when he recognized the blank form fastened to it.

"Aw, another report? What is it with you people and paperwork?"

"You know the rules, Eiji-kun." Sakura gave him a long-suffering look. "Every time we collect a Precious or conduct a mecha battle, we have to write a report about it. It is important to keep records for later references!"

"We haven't collected any Precious lately," Eiji pointed out.

"But we did conduct a mecha battle yesterday, if you remember."

Before he could scowl at her for the thinly disguised sarcasm, Souta took that moment to throw in his own two cents worth. "We all have to give our individual versions of the confrontation with the Questers and Gaja, you know that."

Eiji rolled his eyes at him. "Well, you guys write them, then. It's not like I can contribute much to the events in the warehouse. I was kinda preoccupied for most of that time."

He flinched as the clipboard landed in his lap. "Then write up your part of the battle with Quester-Robo." Sakura gave him a look that clearly said 'get to it!', then turned and walked back down the short flight of stairs. She had almost reached her chair when she turned and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, and this time, could you write legibly, please?"

"And maybe try to shoot for more than six words," Souta added with a grin.

"Hey," Eiji exclaimed, waving his half-eaten carrot. "As far as I'm concerned, my last report was right to the point."

Natsuki, whose head had been bobbing back and forth between her bickering teammembers, suddenly snickered. "And pretty funny, too."

All the while, Satoru sat silently, listening and smirking into his coffee mug.

Sakura cast Eiji a stern look. "I'm sorry, but 'Siren Builder kicked Quester Robo's ass' does not constitute as an acceptable standard SGS report."

"Not to mention that you misspelled 'ass'," Masumi deadpanned.

Eiji's grin turned to a scowl. "Hey, what is this? Pick-on-Eiji day?"

Satoru cast him a look and saw the irritation outweighing the amusement on his partner's face. The Dazzling Adventurer plucked the clipboard off his lap while he rose and stomped down the stairs. When he passed the command table, he dropped the blank report next to Sakura's laptop and declared, "I'll do it later," before stalked out the door without looking back.

A startled silence followed his exit. Arms folded across his chest, Masumi stared at the door, his brows creased in his habitual frown. "Geez, what's with him all of a sudden? No need to get all prissy." He turned to Chief. "Akashi, what…"

"I don't know," Satoru said, the bewilderment on his face more cultivated, but no less apparent.

Eiji was being uncharacteristically touchy. He put his coffee down and rose, intent on pursuit. "I'll go talk to him."

He found him outside, on the museum's top floor observation deck. Normally, the view of this section of Tokyo was quite picturesque, but today Satoru didn't spare the scenery a look. He was focused on Eiji.

The Ashu-watcher was at the far end of the platform, leaning with his back against the wall of the building, hands jammed into the pockets of his jacket and scowling at the ground. He made no move to acknowledge Satoru as he approached.

"Hey," he said by way of announcing himself, but Eiji kept staring at the concrete floor.

"Forget it, I'm not going to apologize to him," the Ashu-hunter said.

Satoru only shrugged. "Well, nothing new there. But Eiji…"

"They were picking on me."

"They were just teasing."

"No. They were picking on me, just because I can't…" The suddenness with which Eiji's mouth snapped shut surprised Satoru, and with a blazing realization, he suddenly knew what this was all about.

"Never mind." Eiji abruptly pushed away from the wall, taking pains not to look at the Boukenger leader as he brushed past him and towards the observation deck's railing.

At least he wasn't trying to run off. Satoru took that as a good sign as he took the spot next to him. Eiji was looking out onto the city, his forearms resting on the iron railing, hands clasped as if in prayer.

"Eiji, I need to ask you a question, and I would like an honest answer," Satoru said.

Eiji just cast him a quick side glance before his gaze went down to his folded hands in silent anticipation.

Satoru didn't make him wait long. "Do you know how to read and write?"

Eiji didn't flinch, but he did blink several times in rapid succession before he indignantly exclaimed, "I can read and write. Just...not very well. There. You happy now?"

Hunch confirmed. Satoru nodded placidly, not in response to his partner's rhetorical question, but rather in gentle encouragement for Eiji to continue.

Eiji averted his gaze once more, and Satoru remained silent, simply waiting next to him. He could sense that Eiji had more to say, he just needed a little time. A sudden draft lifted hazelnut-brown bangs and made the white strand of hair dance for a moment. Eiji sighed into the breeze. When the Ashu-watcher finally did speak again, the defensiveness in his voice had softened.

"I only went to school for a few years; as soon as I could I started wandering the islands with my father. I only wanted to be with him, be like him, and hunt down demons. He tried to teach me as much as he could while we were on the road, but I never really cared about education..." He let the sentence trail off with a shrug.

"I could tutor you, you know," Satoru offered. "If you will accept my help."

"There's no shame in admitting you can't read and write well," he added quickly when he saw Eiji's averse expression. "Lots of people can't. And I wouldn't mind teaching you. Matter of fact, if you want I can show you how to work other things, too. Like a computer or the other GoGo Vehicles..." He stopped when he saw Eiji's face suddenly tightening even more, a muscle twitching in his clenched jaw, the full lips pressing into a thin line. "Why the face?"

It took a moment before Eiji let out a heavy breath and said, "Because I have nothing to give in return."

"First of all, this is not an 'eye for an eye' deal here," Satoru retorted mildly. "Secondly, it's not true that you have nothing to teach in return. For example, you know a whole lot more than me about surviving in the wilderness. You can show me a whole lot there."

The wry look Eiji presented him with told Satoru pretty much what his partner thought about that comment. Eiji folded his arms across his chest. "Please. You're a top-notch treasure hunter. I'm sure you know more than enough about survival in the wild." But Satoru was already shaking his head.

"Not really. True, we camped out at times, but it was always comfort-camping. You know - battery-powered heaters or fans, gas lamps and hotplates, canned food, airbeds, insulated tents, and such."

Eiji just snorted. "That's not camping, that's a vacation."

Satoru grinned at him. "So what do you say?" He bumped Eiji's shoulder with his own playfully, coaxing a smirk out of the Ashu-watcher in return. "I teach you to read and write while you show me how to properly rough it in the wild. But of course we'll have the books and notepads with us, so you don't have to miss any of your lessons."

Eiji rolled his eyes. "Leave it up to you to mix pleasure with work." Still grinning, he nodded at Satoru. "All right, it's a deal. One condition, though. We do this in my room."

"Why your room?"

"Because studying in my room, just the two of us, definitely beats being overheard in the rec room by the rest of the gang. So when are you coming by?"

Satoru recognized the stubborn set of Eiji's face; apparently, there was no room for argument about the location of their study sessions, so Satoru simply shrugged, resigned. "I have some things I need to get first; give me about an hour."

"An hour," Eiji confirmed with a nod, turned, pushed away from the railing and closed most of the remaining distance between them in such a quick and smooth motion that the Fiery Adventurer's eyes widened in surprise. Satoru had the distinct feeling that Eiji would be kissing him any second now, right here, out in the open and in public. Granted, they were five stories up and the only few other people on the observation deck were on the opposite side, but still…

He didn't. Instead, Eiji merely looked at him for a long moment, the wicked twinkle in his eyes showed clearly that the Dazzling Adventurer was deriving a plethora of amusement from his partner's startled reflex. Eiji leaned in, his mouth so close to Satoru's ear that the chief could feel the puff of air on his earlobe when he spoke. "I'll see you then."

A moment later, Satoru found himself alone on the observation platform.

Forty-eight minutes later, Akashi Satoru was ringing the buzzer on the keypad next to Takaoka Eiji's door.

He had barely taken his hand off the device when the door slid aside to reveal Eiji standing before him. Before Satoru could take a single step forward, however, his lover's hands shot out, gripped the front of his jacket and yanked him across the threshold and inside the room. The door had not fully closed yet when Eiji already had Satoru up against the wall, hungry lips devouring his mouth and an impatient tongue requesting access. Long, elegant fingers wound through his spiky hair while Eiji fitted his body against Satoru's from hip to shoulder. Taken completely by surprise, Satoru nevertheless opened his mouth only too willingly, his fingers relaxing the reflexive grips he'd had on his partner's jacket sleeves to wrap his arms around the Ashu-watcher's waist.

One deep kiss turned into half a dozen, and soon Satoru wasn't all that sure anymore what that other thing was they were supposed to be doing right now. There was another reason he had come here, right?

They were eventually forced apart by the fact that drawing in air every minute or so was still a necessity.

"I've been wanting to do this all day," Eiji breathed against Satoru's lips, then his gaze traveled higher until his eyes were locked with the chief's.

"Did anyone see you come in?"

The worried tint in Eiji's voice had Satoru break out into a grin. It also made him remember once more what their original plans had been. "No. And even if they did, do you really think that they would assume that it's studying we're doing?"

"Not studying words, that's for sure."

Leave it to Eiji to be more worried about getting caught practicing reading and writing rather than getting caught having sex.

Mirroring his partner's smirk, Eiji added, "There's something I want to show you first, though." Without breaking their embrace, Eiji shifted his body a few inches to the side and jerked his head over his shoulder in a 'check it out' motion. Curious, Satoru peered around him – and promptly chuckled when he spotted the heretofore unseen new addition to Eiji's room.

On the floor, right before the Dazzling Adventurer's bed, was a fully inflated Queen-size air mattress. Two pillows in red pillow cases were arranged on it, halfway covered by a light-grey comforter.

"I've looked, but I couldn't find a silver quilt."

Satoru smiled. "That's why you were gone half the morning?"

"Yeah. Told you I'd get one of those, didn't I?" Still grinning at him, Eiji lifted a hand to cup Satoru's cheek and run his thumb over those generous lips. "Maybe this could prompt you to stay tonight?"

Satoru leaned into the touch. "Oh, most definitely."

"Great. Let's try it out right now!"

And before he knew it, Satoru found himself being pulled towards, then effectively dropped onto, the mattress. His protest was stifled by Eiji's lips to his mouth again, the kiss turning sloppy when he couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at the Dazzling Adventurer's eagerness.

"Eiji, wait…"

"Mmm, don't want to wait."

"Lessons first, remember?"

Full lips were caressing the skin around his mouth. "Consider this recess."

The slightly wet contact sent shivers down Satoru's spine, yet he managed to dredge up enough remaining brain cells for a reproval. "We haven't even started any lessons yet!"

Eiji's lips were now moving around his chin and over his Adam's apple towards the hollow of his throat. "Pre-class recess, then!"

He could not let Eiji hit that spot. If he did, there would be no studying going on here for sure. Although he would have rather used his hands to pull the light-haired man even closer to him, Satoru pressed them gently against the center of Eiji's chest instead.

"We agreed to get some reading and writing done," he reminded him in his best 'leader' voice.

With a noise of frustration, Eiji pulled back, but not too far. "All right, fine," he pouted, "but this is only postponed." He pointed at the canvas satchel still slung across Satoru's shoulder. "So what's in the bag?"

"Oh, just the essential stuff: notebook, pen, books…" Satoru put the bag between them and spread the contents out across the comforter's quilted surface. Eiji picked up one of the half dozen books and promptly made a face.

"Those are children's books!"

"Well, yes. I don't know how much you know, after all."

Eiji gave him his best wry look from beneath his bangs. "I can read things like See Spot Run, you know."

Satoru didn't miss a beat. "And that's exactly why I got you third-grade reading books instead of kindergarten literature."

Eiji only hmphed at him, then sat back and proceeded to page slowly through the book. From the quickly darkening look on his face it was pretty soon obvious, however, that he had difficulties deciphering many of the hiragana characters. When he realized that Satoru was watching him, he abruptly slammed the book shut and assumed an unconcerned expression.

"All right, those will do for now, I guess," he said a little too nonchalantly while he tossed the book back onto the little pile between them, "but I have an idea how we can keep this simple and quick. Just teach me the essential stuff I need for the reports. You know, words like GoGo vehicles, Daibouken, Precious, and all that." That beautiful mouth curled into a smirk. "That way we can get to the recess quicker."

Satoru grinned back wistfully. "As much as I would love to skip to recess, too, but – no. We're going to do this the right way. From the bottom up." He rummaged around the bag, then pulled out a sheet and held it up so Eiji could clearly see the hiragana alphabet printed on it. "Better sharpen your pencil, 'cause you're going to practice until you know at least half of those by heart."

Eiji's face scrounged up at the dozens of characters, and with a long-suffering groan he slumped over with his face into one of the pillows. The voice, muffled by goose-down and fabric, was nevertheless audible enough, not to mention saturated with such mock-drama, that Satoru had to laugh.

"The things I have to do to get laid."

THE END