Disclaimer: WAAAUGH! Back for a return match. The last chapter was shorter than I had expected it to be. Nooooooooooo. . Waaaaugh. If I break off here, it's probably due to writers block. Err, ….grrrr. The thing I wanted to happen didn't in the last chapter, so…I'll just write it here. And I am so sorry that this wasn't put up sooner. The computer that I write this story on wasn't…well, let's just say I couldn't use it because someone else was occupying it for two weeks…and they'll occupy it again in a few short hours. But now, I FINALLY got the chance to copy the story to THIS computer, so here I am. ENJOY!

Chapter 6: He Didn't

Rikuo saw a flash of white light, and then a woman appeared. Her red eyes gleamed at him, but she didn't look angry with him. Rikuo stared at her with wide eyes, She said something, she was mouthing wordlessly. Rikuo's eyes widened some more as she became slowly more audible…

You want something…

Kazahaya woke up a few hours later from his doze. His head ached when he tried to pick it off his pillow. He had seen Rikuo before that weird floating sensation he had experienced before the falling one. Then it was cold and everything was black, but then something warm…Kazahaya was more intrigued by that warm feeling on his mouth than the rest.

He traced his mouth with his finger. Do I want chocolate again? He thought and asked to himself, still tracing his mouth. No, the chocolate feeling was longing, not warm pleasure…

He put his head down again and fell back into his doze.

You want something, but you don't know that you want it.

I want something?

You do.

Tsukiko?

That is not a hidden entity.

Then what?

You'll find it soon…

Darkness…

Kazahaya woke up suddenly. Someone was telling him that he wanted something. He thought it had been Tsukiko, so it couldn't have been he who the voice was talking to.

Rikuo…What's wrong?

Feeling very reckless and worried, Kazahaya got out of bed, much to his head's protest and crossed the room to the door. He was just about to open it when there was a click and a beep, as if someone was coming in.

Rikuo? Kazahaya just stood there in the small hallway before the door as Rikuo opened the door.

A few silent moments passed as they just stared at each other. There was something new in Rikuo that Kazahaya wasn't sure how he could detect it, but knew he didn't like it. But then Rikuo did the weirdest thing…

"Ah! Rikuo get off!" Kazahaya exclaimed smacking his hand away. For Rikuo had just touched his cheek and…asked if Kazahaya was okay. A very un-Rikuo thing to do.

"Idiot, I'm trying to be nice."

Wait…that sounded like Rikuo…the real Rikuo that he knew. What was going on?

Kazahaya felt his co-worker's forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

More surprises. Rikuo neither looked like he was going to hit Kazahaya's hand away nor did he look annoyed. He…smiled. Sure, he actually did that, but it was a happy smile. He looked happier than he usually was at seeing Kazahaya being teased.

"Oh, you're worried about me?" Rikuo flung his arms around Kazahaya and Kazahaya nearly collapsed under his weight. "That's almost…sweet."

Sweet? Rikuo only uses words like those to describe chocolate! Not people! Especially not…ME!

Rikuo broke his embrace and sat down on the bed. Kazahaya turned to him and stared at him in utter shock. Rikuo started to laugh.

"You're looking at me as if you've seen a ghost!"

"I'm not so sure…"

"What's that?" Rikuo asked him, not catching what his co-worker had said.

"Uhh, nothing!"

Rikuo eyed him skeptically, "Right…well!" He drummed his fingers and smiled around the room, going totally against what Kazahaya had come to think of as the 'Rikuo code of Conduct'.

1. NEVER smile unless you have to.

2. When Kazahaya is being tortured, this DOES count as when you 'have to' smile/smirk.

3. Eat chocolate whenever you can

4. Brood

and...

5. always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS tease Kazahaya at every possible moment.

"Um," Rikuo was staring at Kazahaya as if Rikuo was a younger girl and Kazahaya was an older boy she wanted to ask out. "So err, what do you want to…do today?"

Kazahaya just gaped at him.

What's going on with me?

The words were just pooring out of his mouth. He wanted to stop it, he tried to stop it, but he couldn't stop it. He didn't want to say the words…he was smiling at Kazahaya like he was a school girl and soon he would be blushing and giggling. He knew it.

And then of course it came. First the blush, hopefully he would never allow himself to give in to giggling, but he blushed as he saw the look on Kazahaya's face. It was as if Rikuo thought Kazahaya was an older schoolboy who was about to turn in down.

"Err, you know, we don't have to do anything, so I guess we should look for that sword again!" He said springing up.

"Um, yeah…the sword." Kazahaya said with a look on his face that suggested that Rikuo was losing it.

Rejection…

Rikuo lagged a little behind Kazahaya as they left the room. What the hell was happening to him? What was he doing with Kazahaya?

They walked down the corridor towards the sword. They had remained silent for the entire trip upstairs. No one was around as usual. Most of the hotel-goers were at the outdoor pool or taking mountain hikes to get a good haul of fun before the warm weather abated and it became cold again.

Kazahaya opened the closet door once more. Then…

"IT'S GONE!"

"What?" Rikuo exclaimed turning to look into the closet too. It had gone. He had a bad feeling that it was he who had done something to make it move, but didn't know how when he couldn't touch it.

"DAMMIT!" Kazahaya yelled while slamming the door. A few cleaning supplies were heard fall to the floor. Kazahaya knelt down on the floor, his head in his hands. Thinking, Kakei-san's going to kill us…he'll kill us, well wait, Rikuo will put up a fight and he'll only kill me! And thus his floppy ears came out as he looked down at his knees thinking he'll never get paid on a job again.

Rikuo bent over him, "Don't get so down. We'll just have to try and find it again. Let's go take a bath so we can relax and…um, think more clearly." Rikuo ended his last note a little nervously. Against his inner will, he was hoping that Kazahaya would be wanting to come.

"Um…" Kazahaya looked into Rikuo's eyes. Wait…was Rikuo…! SMILING NOT IN A NASTY WAY? In complete shock, Kazahaya's mouth fell open and he just gaped at the other boy. Nice, hot bath or not, Rikuo looked like he was making a peace offering and like he understood how Kazahaya felt! The horror of it all.

A few silent moments passed between them. Finally Rikuo's expression changed and he now looked really sad. He said, "Oh, I knew you probably wouldn't want to, but all the same…" He straightened up and turned to maybe walk down the hall and brood in their bedroom, but then he felt a grip on his arm.

It was Kazahaya, he stood up and stood next to Rikuo. They stared at each other. Kazahaya for some reason didn't want to make Rikuo upset. Either it was because Rikuo could easily tear him apart later or maybe it was something…else. But Kazahaya couldn't work out what the other thing was.

"Uh, no, let's go take a bath."

Rikuo stared at him, "Okay," He said turning away, he had stared to blush and that was a very un-Rikuo-like thing to do. He pulled his arm out of Kazahaya's grip.

They took an uneventful afternoon bath. Rikuo didn't make any more bug comments which Kazahaya was grateful for.

"Maybe it's outside." Kazahaya suggested after a while.

"Swords don't open closet doors and walk out by themselves."

"Shut up."

"You're the idiot."

"I was merely suggesting that maybe someone ELSE, whilst cleaning could have…OH SHIT!" If some innocent maid walked into that closet and touched the sword…he didn't even want to think about it!

He looked over at Rikuo, "Come on, we've got to go!" When Rikuo didn't move he said louder, 'YOU IDIOT IF SOMEONE ELSE HAS TOUCHED THAT THING—" Then it dawned on his that Rikuo was…blushing. "Um, Rikuo, what's wrong?" The wind blew. Kazahaya suddenly felt cold. Wait ,the water was hot…err.

"GAAAAAH!" Kazahaya yelled, got out of the bath, grabbed his robe and ran for it.

When Kazahaya had calmed down a bit, he and Rikuo set out looking for the sword. All the maids seemed to be acting normal, but since the sword changed it's curse every person, they didn't know what else to think, so they went with Kazahaya's plan to search the grounds. They found nothing. They even played mini golf to see if the sword would appear suddenly if you made a hole in one, but alas, nothing happened.

>>>

"I GIVE UP!" Kazahaya said slamming himself onto the bed. They had just changed, Kazahaya in the bathroom, for bed. Kazahaya whipped the covers all over himself. Rikuo just stared at his back before he went to sleep himself.

This was completely unfair. They should have been back by now even if there was no time limit for this mission. The situation was getting annoying. How were he and Rikuo supposed to find that damn sword…

"DAMMIT!" Kazahaya whispered loudly to himself. He flung the covers off himself in a half-effort to not wake Rikuo up, crossed the room, went down the little hallway, left the bedroom, climbed the stairs, and found himself finally outside the cleaning supplies closet where the sword had been.

I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I use my power before? Kazahaya thought angrily to himself. He grabbed the knob outside the door and could extract nothing. Suddenly the face of Rikuo appeared in his mind as he opened the door saying, 'I told you you were and idiot'.

Glaring at the door, he touched the knob inside of the door. There he extracted…

Rikuo glaring at the sword that was hovering before him, he stared at it with concentration…A woman with red eyes hovering over the sword…A half-petrified, half-annoyed Rikuo looking up at her. She was mouthing wordlessly. A flash of light and…then there was no more.

"Rikuo?" Kazahaya fell to the floor, still clutching the doorknob, "Rikuo's cursed?"

Rikuo felt over the sheets where Kazahaya was supposed to be sleeping, but found it was only sheets.

Rikuo sat up instantly, "Huh?" Kazahaya couldn't…no, he hadn't, "IDIOT!" Rikuo jumped out of bed and was in the process of pulling on slippers and going out the door when a flash of white light came before him, hovering over the door.

Rikuo just stared at it, unable to speak, but then a woman materialized out of it. A red-eyed and glaring woman. He stared at her petrified and angry.

"You…you made me do all this! Against my will!" He yelled at her.

I only made you see what you wanted. Your dark demeanor dropped and you would—

"You bitch! No one in their right mind would like Kazahaya! Especially not another guy!"

She smiled and wrapped her hands around Rikuo. Then perhaps you are not in your right mind…

Another flash of white light, and then there was darkness.

To be continued…

And all that jazz. YES! I'm finished! And I really am sorry for not updating sooner. But now it's spring break, I'll hopefully be able to start writing much more often. R&R