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Satisfaction

Chapter 12

By Miki

"Still wearing last season, huh?"

Atobe smirked and sat back comfortably on the sofa. It went without saying that it was hardly as good as the ones he had at home, but that was to be expected. He'd also expected that Mizuki might have the sense not to wear the same out-of-date shirt he'd been wearing the last time Atobe had seen him, but apparently he didn't.

Mizuki pursed his lips, sitting back and crossing his legs as he regarded Atobe. "Likewise, I notice you're still wearing grey."

"It's natural," Atobe snapped back.

"Yes, we know," Fuji smiled. "No one would ever want to have hair that colour anyway."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "You know, I do believe I know what you're suffering from, Fuji Syuusuke."

"Hm? What's that?"

"Jealousy," Atobe replied simply.

Fuji opened his eyes and leaned forwards on his seat. He looked at Atobe carefully as the corners of his mouth turned down for a moment. "Why would you ever think that?"

Atobe frowned.

"Aniki," Yuuta said warningly, his hand instinctively holding his brother's tighter.

"Yes, Yuuta?" Fuji smiled. "Are you hungry? Shall I feed you some pie now?"

Yuuta sighed.

"Are you feeling okay, Yuuta? You look a little tense," Yumiko frowned. She leaned across to pass a cup of tea to Atobe and slid another across the table to Mizuki.

Yuuta didn't reply.

"Perhaps you should have that massage later," Fuji smiled. He picked up the knife on the table and carefully sliced a piece of Yumiko's pie, placing it on a plate.

"No, I don't think so…" Yuuta mumbled, hoping his brother would just leave this subject alone.

"Are you sure?" Fuji asked with amusement. "I've been practising a bit on Yumiko."

Yuuta looked across at his sister warily.

"Well, I'm sure your brother would like to try out his skills on you sometime," she smiled.

"I don't doubt it," Mizuki muttered, taking a sip of his tea. A second later, he pulled a face and stared at his cup as though there was something wrong with it.

Fuji leaned across, the knife still in his hand. "Something wrong, Mizuki?"

Mizuki coughed, eyeing Fuji suspiciously and shrinking back into his seat. "Did you by any chance put wasabi in this tea?"

Atobe blinked and looked at his cup with suspicion, wondering if it was possible Yumiko and Fuji were up to something together. He supposed he shouldn't put it past them. They weren't exactly wonderful hosts after all.

"Of course not," Fuji replied to Mizuki, never letting go of Yuuta's hand as he sliced the pie. "Would you like some blackberry pie? I can put wasabi in it if you'd like."

"Aniki, just hand over the pie," Yuuta demanded, scowling. "Mizuki doesn't have funny tastebuds like you do."

Fuji smiled. "Hm? Really? Have you inspected them for yourself Yuuta?"

"Huh?"

"Want to imspect mine, Yuuta? I think you'll find they're really no different to anyone else's."

Yuuta turned a bright shade of pink.

"No, I don't," he said as firmly as he could, trying to inch away from his brother on the sofa. He could only inch as far as Atobe though…

Atobe took a sniff of his cup while no one was looking. It didn't smell particularly suspicious, though he suspected this was the sort of tea that cost five hundred yen a box. Personally, he thought, if he'd realised he would be subject to cheap tea again, he would have brought some of his own. It was charitable, after all, to help those less fortunate and affluent than oneself.

It was rather too bad that that was most of the world's population.

Perhaps Mizuki was just being over sensitive, or perhaps he had defective taste buds. Commoners often suffered from that sort of ailment, he'd noticed. But nevertheless, Atobe only took the tiniest of sips, frowning a little at the taste of the murky brown liquid.

"Sugar?" Yumiko asked, smiling at him.

Atobe took the small pot before he'd thought about what he was doing.

"Mizuki," Fuji smiled, pushing another pot across the table towards the boy.

Mizuki raised one eyebrow rather suspiciously at Fuji, who merely smiled back. He opened the lid of the pot to find it contained sugar. It looked normal enough; white and granulated…

Yuuta blinked, momentarily wondering why there were two pots of sugar on the table.

"Aniki, why are-" he began, only to find himself with a mouth full of pie.

Fuji removed the fork from his brother's mouth and smiled. "Now now, Yuuta, don't talk with food in your mouth."

Atobe frowned into his tea and took another little sip. It was somewhat improved once the sugar masked the taste of the inferior tea leaves, although had it not been for Yuuta, Atobe wouldn't have to sit here and drink this horrid second-rate stuff anyway.

He supposed he could mark it down as an experience from which he could learn…

Always bring your own tea when dining with commoners with bad taste.

He sat back again and looked across at Mizuki. Quite frankly, he couldn't understand why Yuuta had told him he wasn't free to do anything when Mizuki was here. The thought that Yuuta would turn him down for Mizuki really put him off, and he put down his teacup just as Mizuki picked his up.

"I really don't like having to drink sugar in my tea," he complained a little, frowning at Yuuta. "You ought to know which brand I drink, Yuuta."

Yuuta opened his mouth to speak and promptly found another piece of pie in it instead. He glared at his brother and tried to grumble through his mouthful of pie, but all that came out was an incoherent whine.

Fuji picked up the sugar pot Atobe had discarded, and quickly dropped three heaped teaspoons into his brother's cup, ignoring the rather incredulous look Atobe was giving him.

"At any rate," Mizuki contined, "it would take a tonne of sugar just to make this taste semi-decent and I'm not about to emulate Yuuta's habits." He gave Yuuta a look that said he'd be running extra laps to make up for the three spoons of sugar he had in his tea, and then took a sip of his drink.

Atobe wasn't quite sure what happened next, but one minute Mizuki was drinking tea and looking every bit his pompous self and next he was coughing, standing up, pointing an accusing finger at Fuji and looking green in the face.

And there was tea all over the table.

Yuuta was shielding the plate of pie as though his life depended on it.

Fuji didn't seem disturbed in the slightest.

"But you didn't put in any sugar, Mizuki," Fuji said simply. "That was the salt pot."

"You! You!" Mizuki spluttered.

"You don't need to get the table any wetter, you know," Fuji frowned. "It's lucky Yuuta saved Yumiko's wonderful pie or it would have been inedible."

Yumiko sighed. She'd been happy to observe things today, but it seemed Syuusuke was feeling like stirring everyone up.

Yuuta included.

"Aniki," Yuuta stood up, jerking his hand from his brother's. "Why'd you have to do that?"

Fuji frowned, opening his eyes to look at Yuuta.

He didn't give an answer though, and Yuuta's frown turned to a glare.

"You're so… You're so…" For a moment he couldn't even find the words he wanted to say. His mind was almost blank but for the feeling of frustration running through him.

"Baka Aniki!"

(S)

"Syuusuke," Yumiko called. She watched him turning around to face her and shook her head. "Why don't you leave Yuuta for the moment?"

"Why?" Fuji asked, frowning.

Yumiko smiled. "Just let him settle down, won't you? Come and help me clear up."

Fuji smiled and handed his sister the rubber gloves from the kitchen sink. "Here, Nee-san. You'd better wear these so you don't catch anything funny."

"Syuusuke," she sighed. "Yuuta needs space, you know… Like anyone else, he needs to make his own decisions."

Fuji didn't turn around to look at her.

What if they're bad decisions?

The question was left unsaid, and Yumiko simply touched his shoulder as she walked past him, rubber gloves in her hand. There were things she wanted to say to Syuusuke, and there were things she wanted to say to Atobe, but she didn't want to speak to either of them in the presence of the other so they would both have to wait for the moment.

She wondered though whether Atobe would figure things out on his own and how long it would take him.

(S)

Atobe knocked on Yuuta's door, brushing down his shirt as he did so. Mizuki had left the house in a storm – a rather frumpy, pink storm – and Yumiko had pushed Atobe in the direction of the stairs, telling him that Yuuta's room was the second on the right. Truthfully, Atobe was feeling a little out of his comfort zone. After seeing what happened to Mizuki, he was starting to wonder if he ought to be watching for knives flying out of the walls and ropes at his feet.

After waiting a minute or so, Atobe frowned at Yuuta's lack of response, and knocked at the door again.

"Yuuta?"

The door opened slowly and Yuuta stared back at Atobe for a moment.

"I almost thought you were Aniki," he mumbled, turning away to pick up some clothes off the floor.

"So you were ignoring me," Atobe responded, unimpressed.

He took the fact that Yuuta had left the door open as a sign to walk in, and did so, looking around the bedroom. It was, to say the least, rather… small. Atobe could see only a single bed, a dresser, a wardrobe and a desk, and there was no sign of a bathroom door anywhere. He wondered how one could put up with living in such a poky little space.

Yuuta dropped down on the side of his bed, stuffing a shirt into his duffel bag and frowning at Atobe.

"You're probably not used to this sort of place, huh?"

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Should I be?"

Yuuta sighed and gave a little roll of his eyes.

"It's what you'd call a normal house, you know."

Atobe walked over to Yuuta's bed and sat down gingerly on the edge. Chairs apparently, were not to be found in normal bedrooms.

"It's what I'd call a small house, actually," Atobe replied, looking out the one small window. "Don't you get claustrophobic being in here?"

Yuuta gave Atobe a disbelieving look for a moment and then broke into a wry grin. "Are you kidding me?"

Atobe frowned. "No, why would I joke about something like that?"

Yuuta leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

For a moment Atobe wondered if he'd said something wrong. He watched Yuuta, wondering if this was a common behaviour – stomping out of afternoon tea and then sulking in one's bedroom – and decided that if he had Fuji Syuusuke for a brother, he'd probably be rather prone to this sort of exhibition as well.

"Are you going back to school now? I'll drive you," he said, by way of saying something just to fill the silence.

Yuuta turned his head and gave him a smile.

Atobe tapped his fingers on his thigh. "What?" he demanded quickly, a little nervous.

Yuuta lifted his head and shook it, still smiling. "Nothing."

"It's not nothing," Atobe replied, annoyed. "What is it? Huh?"

He flicked his hair and rubbed at a spot on his chin that was annoying him. The climate control in this house was a little too cold. It made his skin feel dry, as though he were in an airplane.

Yuuta shoved another shirt into his bag – he ignored the look that Atobe gave him regarding his way of packing clothes – and stood up, stretching his back.

"You don't mind dropping me back?" he asked, looking across the room in case he'd missed anything.

Atobe stood up and brushed down his clothes again. "Of course not. If I minded, I'd never have offered in the first place."

Yuuta dipped his head to hide his smile.

Maybe it was the way Atobe spoke, or the way he was always brushing off his clothes even when there probably wasn't a speck of dirt on him. Or even the way he was always so fussy with his food but then snuck half a packet of fries when he thought Yuuta wasn't looking.

Yuuta felt almost stupid for it, but there was just something that made him want to smile more when he was with Atobe.

Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

(S)

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner, Yuuta?" Yumiko asked.

She looked disappointed, and Yuuta had to roll his eyes and take a few steps down the footpath before he said no to her. "Well, come home next weekend then."

"I won't," Yuuta scowled back, grabbing Atobe's arm and pulling him to the limo.

"Yuuta!" Fuji called out, appearing behind his sister and smiling.

"What?" Yuuta turned around, scowling.

Fuji smiled and held out a plastic bag. "You left your boxers in my room last night!"

Yuuta turned a bright shade of red and stomped back to the door to snatch the bag from his brother.

"Don't say it like that, Aniki!"

He stared at the footpath as he stomped back down towards the limo again.

He didn't have to look at Atobe's face to know he had an eyebrow raised and was awaiting an explanation.

(S)

"Aniki made me go shopping," Yuuta mumbled, cheeks red as he tried to explain to Atobe why his brother had any of his underwear in the first place.

Atobe crossed his arms and sat back against the leather seat of the limousine. "Shopping for underwear? At your age?"

Yuuta's ears were turning red.

"Really, I hardly see why you'd need help doing something so trivial."

Yuuta stayed quiet, sinking down into his seat.

Sitting here like this now, Atobe thought, it made the afternoon's experience seem almost surreal. It felt as though he and Yuuta were just on another of their dates… Except that they weren't dates, per se, but rather…

Atobe frowned, wondering how he'd categorise their outings as such. They definitely weren't dates, and they didn't quite fall under the "hanging out" category as Jirou put it. Atobe certainly didn't spend time "hanging out", since he had far more important things to do, but then he wasn't really sure how else to describe the time he spent with Yuuta.

He was lost in his thoughts when Yuuta spoke.

"Sorry about… Aniki…"

Atobe looked across at him, blinking at the intrusion. He arched an eyebrow. "Remind me never to dine with your brother in the future."

Yuuta put his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing at it absentmindedly. "Yeah," he agreed, though he didn't really think Atobe would need any reminding.

He'd probably have to deal with Mizuki as soon as he got back to school as well… Oh, he really didn't want to go back to school. Mizuki would probably be livid. He'd probably have to run laps until he collapsed.

Or even… worse.

Yuuta sunk further down into his seat and stared glumly out the window, watching the buildings and streets going past. It was a moment before he realised they were becoming more and more unfamiliar, and he looked at Atobe quickly. "Atobe, where are we going?"

Atobe looked thoughtful. "Where would you like to go? I don't suppose you really want to go back to school, do you?"

Yuuta blinked. "Um…" Atobe had never before asked where he'd like to go, and he wasn't sure what to say.

He fidgeted for a moment.

He knew it was only late afternoon, but he was still a little hungry… He'd only ended up having a few mouthfuls of blackberry pie, and they were sort of spoilt anyway since Aniki had just shoved them in his mouth in the first place.

He glanced at Atobe and wondered if the other boy was up to eating again so soon after having afternoon tea, if you could call that mess an afternoon tea…

"Could we… Do you want to go to that café and have dessert?" he asked tentatively, meaning that café Mizuki had dragged him to and where they'd had green tea crème brulée.

It seemed like a long time ago now though.

"Which café?" Atobe asked, looking pleasantly surprised.

"That one where they have the gree tea crème brulées… Where Mizuki took me," Yuuta clarified, deliberately avoiding mentioning that they'd met Atobe there and that Atobe had entirely spoiled his afternoon, evening, night and well, the rest of the next day as well.

He'd almost forgotten about that incident, and he wondered if Atobe had forgotten about it as well, or if he'd paid it no attention anyway.

Atobe seemed to consider for a moment, and then nodded his head, tapping on the glass window behind him and giving directions.

(S)

Atobe watched Yuuta playing with the straw in his iced tea.

It seemed like a long time since he'd bumped into Mizuki and Yuuta here and he wasn't exactly keen to remember the incident.

He'd realised since then that there were certain things Yuuta preferred not to talk about; his brother, for a start, and his family. And then he'd realised that he'd stopped bringing up those topics, and that somewhere along the way, he'd stopped caring about Fuji Syuusuke.

As Jirou would have put it, it wasn't about the mouse anymore, or even the rat.

It was about the cheese.

Still, Atobe couldn't help but regret not thinking up a better analogy for Yuuta than a block of cheese.

"Are you okay?" Yuuta asked, his voice once again breaking through Atobe's thoughts.

Atobe nodded decisively, sitting up straight on his side of the table. It wouldn't do to be daydreaming in the middle of a conversation.

"Sorry, were you saying something?" he asked, taking a sip of his coffee and hoping it would stop him from thinking so much about all of these things.

Yuuta held his gaze for a moment before looking away, out the window of the café to the street. "Not really."

"Well anyway," Atobe said, clearing his throat, "what time do you have to be back at the dormitory?"

Yuuta sighed. "Curfew for Sunday is six, unless you have a leave slip already stamped."

Atobe nodded, checking his watch quickly.

"I suppose we should be leaving then; I wouldn't want you to get in trouble," he said.

"Oh," Yuuta blinked. "Yeah…"

Atobe tilted his head slightly at Yuuta's noncommittal response. "Something the matter?" he enquired, noticing a little spot of dessert next to Yuuta's mouth.

Yuuta shook his head, about to open his mouth to tell Atobe it was really nothing, when his companion reached his arm out and wiped his thumb across his cheek and lip.

"A-Atobe?" he stuttered, blinking. "What are you…?"

Atobe blinked, for a moment wondering why Yuuta was looking at him so strangely. Then he realised what he'd just done, and he hurriedly pulled back his hand, wiping his thumb on his napkin and looking away as he did so. "You had some dessert on your face, that's all," he blurted out, uncharacteristically nervous all of a sudden.

He could swear all the blood in his body was suddenly rushing to his face, and he stood up, grabbing the bill off the tabletop with a shaking hand. "It wouldn't do if you went walking around looking like you'd been playing with your food, you know," he added as he turned and walked over to the cash registers. "People would think I'd been dining with a child."

It was a good thing neither Atobe nor Yuuta were looking at each other, or they'd have realised their faces were almost matching colours.

(S)

Atobe walked Yuuta to the door of the dormitory's lobby again, ignoring the scowl and the verbal protest that accompanied the action.

"I'm not a girl, you know," Yuuta huffed.

"I do believe we did already establish that," Atobe replied with a smirk.

"Then you can stop walking now," Yuuta scowled, his cheeks and ears still tinged with pink.

"Nonsense," Atobe retorted, rolling his eyes. "I said I'm walking you to the door, so I'm not going to stop walking until we reach the door."

Yuuta took the last step to the glass doors and turned around to face Atobe.

"People are going to think you're weird."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because I actually have manners?"

Yuuta sighed, running a hand through his hair and looking away. "Hey, are you going to the library tomorrow?"

"Perhaps."

"Is that a yes or a no?" Yuuta questioned.

Atobe hesitated in answering. "I don't know… I'll call you tomorrow and tell you."

Yuuta began to turn around. "Okay. Tomorrow then."

"Wait," Atobe said quickly, and Yuuta turned to face him again, an expectant look on his face.

"Oh, it's nothing," Atobe said awkwardly, changing his mind on the spot.

Yuuta smiled a little. "Nothing?"

"Nothing, really." Atobe rolled his eyes, smiling a little as he turned around to head back to the limo.

"Goodnight, Yuuta."

"Night Atobe."

.tbc.