Disclaimer: I do not own Hana-Kimi, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

-=Chapter Five=-

Umeda just stood there, staring at the door. 'Did he just-?...He did, he just shut my own door in my face!' While that and what had just happened sank into his head he locked the door and stumbled over to the couch before reaching over and switching on a lamp.

"I...just kissed Akiha, I just French kissed Akiha. Oh my god..." The doctor rested his elbows on his knees, face plopping automatically into his upturned palms. "Can this night get any wor-?" His phone started vibrating across the table before he could even finish the last word.

"Damn it!" Umeda cursed, reaching for the phone while mentally kicking himself. He looked at the screen and cursed again: "12:27 Ryoichi" Flipping the phone open quickly he wondered why on earth he was calling so late: He usually went to bed earlier so he could get up for work at six.

"Yes?..." He answered in his usual fashion, leaning back into the couch and preparing for one of Ryo-san's non-excuses.

"It's me..." Came the reply over the phone, the voice a little on edge and annoyed.

"We went through this earlier: I know, it's called 'Caller I.D.' Now what do you want?" Umeda was a little pissed: Being put second after a younger man for years can do that to a person.

The phone was silent for a few seconds, as if the other man was surprised that Umeda would be that curt with him. He quickly recovered however, coming back with the all-original imitation of a pissed off cat: "Reeeowr, someone's a little upset tonight."

"It's Midnight; I have every reason to be upset at you calling me."

"You weren't asleep." Ryoichi pointed out.

"That's beside the point; I'm talking about the principle of the thing." Umeda shot back.

"Since when have you ever had principles?"

"Again: Beside the point. Now, why did you call?" He was starting to get upset now, it was inconsiderate to call this late. Also, it probably didn't help that he was still replaying what had just happened with Akiha in his mind.

"I was just calling to apologize..."

"You never apologize." Came the annoyed reply.

"Very true..."

"So now that you have admitted that: What do you want this time?"

Silence for a few minutes, then a deep breath. "Well you seem to be impatient, so-"

"Impatient and fed-up-with are two completely different things..." Umeda said it quietly, but it effectively silenced his part-time lover. "This is getting out of hand Ryo, and we both know it. I've been pushed aside for years because of Masato and quite frankly: I'm tired of it." Mentally Umeda was running in circles and pulling his hair out, trying desperately to close the floodgates on his words. "I have nothing against the man, other than him taking up all of your time and thoughts, but I can only put up with so much before I break. I'm quickly reaching that point..." The last was said almost desperately and he hated it.

"Are you threatening me Umeda?" Was the only reply, the words sounding whispered through clenched teeth.

Umeda cringed, the other man's tone not going unnoticed. "You know I could never do that to you, but I want you to know that if you keep pushing me farther and farther away I won't even be able to reach you anymore..." This was going downhill fast.

"You can't reach me now....you never have." With that, he hung-up.

Umeda sat there, the silence slowly choking him from the inside out. "He hung-up on me...stood me up and hung up on me..." He didn't know whether to feel pissed or dejected, but the former was quickly winning out; if only for the fact that it was more self-preserving for his ego. "That bastard..."

After a few moments of quick thinking, his thoughts spinning around in circles more than anything else, he got up and walked into his kitchen. After searching around in his refrigerator for a while, much longer than it should have taken, he decided on a bottle of water.

Grabbing up his water he headed back into the living room, setting his satchel on the table. 'Might as well get something accomplished...' He thought to himself as he pulled out a few folders, trying to calm himself while ignoring the fact that his hands shook.

When he pulled out the last folder something came out of the bag with it, but fell on the floor and rolled under the table. Umeda, being the curious creature that he was, bent over and looked under the piece of furniture.

When he saw the paper and recognized what it was he cursed and reached for it, but it was just out of his grasp. Cursing, he slid off the couch and onto his knees, leaning down and looking for it again. When he spotted it his hand snaked out and snatched it. 'I'm gonna kill him I swear!...' Umeda thought to himself as he sat down on the couch once again, clutching the paper in one hand and reaching for his water bottle with the other.

Taking a long drink of water he looked down at the paper in his hand, curiosity beginning to get the better of him. 'I wonder where that man found neighbors who could put up with him?..." After considering the question for a few seconds Umeda just shook his head and set down the paper on the table, reaching for a file. 'Like I care anyway, I wouldn't be caught dead in that man's apartment. It's bad enough we live in the same building.'

Several minutes passed by, most of them with very little work being accomplished and much pondering of one very annoying man.

'I could call it reconnaissance...' He thought to himself, but was quickly scolded by a voice in his head: 'Reconnaissance for what? Don't even think about going over there! You've been putting up with that man's advances for years, think of how worse they are going to get if you encourage him!!!'

Umeda sighed and nodded to himself: that was all very true. That wasn't the question though, the question was did he really care? After years of being worn down by the other man advances, and even more years of being shoved aside by the one person he ever really loved, he was tired of fighting. He wanted someone right now, and Akiha was more than willing to be used and abused in a physical sense. He was also the least likely to develop annoying feeling for him, and the fact that Umeda would kill himself before falling in love with the photographer went without saying.

With another sigh Umeda set down the folder he wasn't really looking at and massaged his temples with the heels of both hands. 'This is ridiculous...I can't even concentrate anymore I'm so stressed out.' He grabbed the water bottle again and took a swig...or at least tried to: all he got was air. Apparently he was so distracted that he finished his water and didn't even realize it. With a glare at the offending plastic he tossed it into the kitchen and hoped that it landed in the recycle bin. When he heard the rustle of the plastic bag and it bounce around with the other bottles he knew he made it.

'I wonder which floor he lives on...doubt it's even close...' As soon as that thought registered, he knew that he was going over to Akiha's apartment. It was just a matter of how long he was going to stall. Holding back another sigh Umeda picked up the paper and slowly uncrumpled it.

Inside, in very neat and almost delicate writing, was very simply: "Apartment 517." After turning it over and looking on the other side, then turning it over again to make double sure, Umeda decided that Akiha had finally lost his mind. Even thought there wasn't much to lose in the first place....

'Finally decide to go over there and he gave me a fake address, no way he lives that close and we never bumped into each other.' But the more Umeda thought about it, the more possible it became: Umeda kept businessman hours, but Akiha came and went with his photographer's schedule. Not to mention the fact that Umeda went out of his way to avoid his neighbors and it was just like Akiha to want to keep him off balance by not telling Umeda they lived in the same building. Umeda's eyes widened as he realized that Akiha did indeed live just two doors down from him.

If he was on a different floor that would have been a little easier to not have noticed, not even the mailboxes have their names on them. The call buttons didn't either, you had to remember the person's apartment number or you were out of luck. Privacy was important to him, so those features had been very appealing. Not that he couldn't have requested that his name be left off everything, but that was such a hassle and had so much paperwork.....okay, not a lot, but he was lazy.

'Okay, enough stalling...' With that thought he got up and grabbed his keys, debated about bringing his cell but decided against it, and headed for the door. He slipped on his shoes along the way so was ready to go when he reached it. After once last glance at his apartment he opened the door and stepped out, locking the door behind himself.

'I can't believe I'm doing this, I must have lost my mind...' Umeda shook his head to clear it a bit and walked down the hallway, heading for the door with the big, brass numbers "5-1-7." As he reached it the thought dawned on him that he had no idea what to say once Akiha opened the door. "Hi Akiha, wanna fuck?" Just didn't sound all that appealing, even if it was exceedingly accurate.

After a second or two of thought on the subject it dawned on him that he didn't have to knock, he could just let himself in via the key on the door frame. With that thought Umeda smiled and reached up, sliding his fingers along the whitewashed doorjamb. As soon as his fingertips connected with a cold, metal key he felt his pulse speed up.

As he took down the key and stared at its plain, silver design Umeda thought briefly of what he was about to do. But "brief" was the operative word because before he could think too much he shoved the key into the lock and turned, the door swinging open silently.

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Author's note: Like I said, this story is old. So if you want me to update: comment. Otherwise I won't know people want to know what happens and will think it's a waste of my time to update. Hope you liked it, HK is my fave manga of all time and I want to do it justice~!