Some chapters will be a bit short and some longer. Cutting, people, cutting!

XD

Chapter three

~later~

Fai slipped his hands in his pockets as he strolled home at the end of the day. It was already night and the streets were illuminated. Yuui was no doubt home already and probably either asleep or cursing him for being late for dinner.

While the streets weren't crowded, there were people passing by. All of them faceless to him as he felt like the only one there. Though unaware, another person felt the same way but was walking in the opposite direction on that exact same street; dark jacket and collar popped up.

Fai had been lost in thought, hoping Yuui had make cake, maybe something with pumpkin and cream cheese as he bumped shoulders with someone. "Ah sorry." He muttered, snapped out of his thoughts to glance at the man, taller than him with dark hair and red eyes that made his gaze linger for a moment.

The man he bumped into was about to say something but was soon silent as he glanced into those sapphire eyes. His red eyes widened for a second before he turned back and continued his way; if not a bit more quickly than a second ago.

Thinking that had been a little rude Fai continued on his walk home. There was something about that man that was familiar, but he couldn't place it even as he walked in to his sound of Yuui cooking and…was that singing? Had him forgetting about the encounter.

Yuui didn't hear Fai come in as he was cooking some pasta dish and waiting for the cake to bake all the while humming happy and a skip in his step. He was in such a good mood; he was even making a cake for his brother; despite his rule of no sweets until the weekend unless there was a good reason. And boy was it a good one this time.

"Someone's cheerful today?" He asked after he had kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen.

"Brother~!" Yuui turned his head and smiled brightly. "Welcome home~! Dinner's almost ready and I'll get to work on that cake~!"

Fai wanted to kiss him for making a cake. He have had a sweet craving all day. "Good day at work?"

"The greatest day ever~!" Yuui cheered. "It was so wonderful, I'd turn back time to relive it again and again~!"

"You would?" Fai took a seat pondering over just what had set off this good mood when a thought struck him. "You met someone!"

"Yes~!" Yuui squealed. "I've meet the most wonderful person in the world~!"

"And who was this mystery person?" Smiling, he was glad for Yuui. He hadn't been this giddy about something since Fai had surprised him with a brand new mixer.

"His name's Syaoron~!" Yuui went back to cooking as his voice didn't lower at all. "I bumped into him by accident when getting some powdered sugar and oh..." He blushed and gushed. "He had the deepest, most beautiful brown eyes..." He trailed off with a dreamy look.

Fai laughed as his brother swooned. "He sounds handsome. So what else happened? I know you didn't just run into him and then leave."

Prepping the table, Yuui fiddled with his fingers. "Ah...well I told him to meet up at the cafe later today and he did...he had the loveliest voice. So sweet yet mature...I liked it..."

"So did you ask him out?" Fai asked as he helped moved the plates.

"S-Sort of..." Yuui chuckled. "We're meeting on Sunday since we are both off..." He hadn't felt this exciting about meeting someone in a long time.

"That's wonderful~ Oh, we have to make sure you look good then." Excited for his brother, Fai watched him blush. "And you have to ask him out."

"Oh...but we just met and...I don't want to scare him off..." Yuui trailed off as his smile faded a bit.

Fai shook his head. "It's not scaring off. It's normal."

"I may be going on too strong though..."

"Just as long as you don't start trying to make out with him or get his name tattooed on you, I think you'll be okay."

Yuui had to scoff at that. "I'm not that extreme...it's just...it's been a while since I've dated and…I'm too busy and such..." He frowned a bit.

"You have other cooks, let them work some. And besides Yuui you need to get laid, it'll be good for you." Fai insisted; knowing that Yuui had been stressed a lot lately.

It was then that Yuui blushed and scoffed. "There's more to life then sex, brother." He pouted. "If it comes to that, it'll be by mutual feelings and not because of some hormones bursting out of a cage." He didn't want to get his hopes up. If things do go bad like most of his relationships on the past; he rather not have it in the one place he was content in be an area of his emotional turmoil.

"Sure, sure." Fai waved him off. "Whatever you say."

"I'm not going to push this. If he likes me back then fine, if not then I'll be happy to have another friend in the group. That's all." He then went back to the oven and pulled out the baked cake bases.

"Put those on the cooling rakes and come and eat. I've only had a bag of chips today." Fai whined wanting his brother to hurry.

"Rush me and it'll be the only thing you would eat today." Yuui warned him; not dealing with the whining now that his mood was down.

"But Yuui~!" Fai slumped on the table pouting. "You're just a tease."

"And you're just being a child." Yuui smiled a bit. "Calm down, I won't starve you."

Fai pouted; unsure of that.

"Keep pouting and I might change my mind~" Yuui teased a bit.

"Terrible!" Fai shot him a half hearted glare.

"I regret nothing!" Yuui laughed as he got a couple of plate and started serving dinner for the two of them.

Fai started thinking up ways to get back at him. The food did look great though and Fai stared.

"Here. Eat up." Yuui smiled as he got them two bottles of beer; knowing Fai need to wind down.

Fai nuzzled the bottle. "I love you~!"

"I think you meant the beer; not me." Yuui joked as he started eating.

"I did, but I love you too." Fai argued before opening the beer and taking a sip. It's nice and cold, Yuui must have chilled them when he got home.

"Sure." Yuui laughed as he continued eating. He was glad that he had Fai for a brother. He couldn't imagine anyone being his twin.

The food was good as usual, maybe even a little better and he attributed that to Yuui's good mood.

Dinner went on with some small talk and some laughter here and there. After that, Yuui started decorating the cake; humming while he did so.

Fai did the dishes as he questioned his brother further about his new boyfriend.

"He's not my boyfriend." Yuui frowned with a blush. "I just met the guy..."

"Well it's only a matter of time. He asked you out for lunch right? Well he's obviously interested. If he wasn't, Syaoron would have just taken the free meal and left."

"He only asked of that because I let him get a dessert for free. He was just paying me back. That's all." Yuui reasoned.

"He likes you~" Fai cooed. "I can tell."

"Everyone likes me." Yuui muttered. "Nothing different about that."

"I mean he 'wants to get in your pants' likes you." Fai chuckled, putting the last bowl into the dish drainer.

"As hell!" Yuui snapped with his face all red. "I don't even know if he swings that way!"

"Care to make a wager?" Fai wriggled his eyebrows as he leaned over to his brother.

Looking over his shoulder, Yuui frowned. "On what grounds?" He can never back down from one of those /brotherly/ bets they would have from time to time.

"Him asking you out, being so nice to you, actually showing up at where you work. Come on, I'll bet you half my next paycheck he's gay."

"Bring it." Yuui said; something he doesn't usually state. "If he's gay, then I'll make sweets for you for...two weeks. But!" He lifted a finger. "If it turns out that he's only not gay but just a friendly guy, I'll take half of your paycheck and buy myself some new kitchen equipment and some beer that you'll /never/ touch."

"Two weeks of sweets doesn't equal to half my paycheck. You need to ante up more."

"Well, I can just cancel the bet." Yuui countered. "Since it's ridiculous to begin with...can't believe I'm actually getting on of this." He muttered the last part to himself.

"Fine." Pouting his dried his hands on a dishtowel. "I'll enjoy all those candies and chocolates and cakes you'll be making."

"Yeah, you wish." Yuui scoffed as he was finished with the cake. "Here. Cake's done. I'm going ahead to take a shower and pretend this little discussion never happened.' He stated as he walked out of the kitchen.

Fai gave him a sly look, not saying a word as his brother left him alone.

On the other side of town the person in discussion was just closing the printing shop for the day. His brother was waiting for him outside as the lights were turned off. Then the front door opened and closed, he turned to his brother with a smile. "Hey, Nii-san. Tough day today?"

"No actually it was pretty interesting?" His hands were stained in ink, but he'd wash up when they got home. "What about you?"

"Same old." Syaoran smiled as he glanced at the hands. "Just me, books and other readers going about their day."

"Sounds exciting." He laughed pocketing his keys as they headed home.

Syaoran nodded with a grin. "Usually is."

"I met someone today, well not really, we sort of walked into each other." He smiled, he'd thought about the blonde on and off all day.

"Really?" Syaoran asked; a bit surprised but also happy for his twin. "How that happened?"

"Like I said we walked into each other." Syaoron shrugged. "He runs a restaurant I think and he gave me a free meal so I offered to take him out Sunday for lunch."

"Ah. That was nice of him." Syaoran commented as the twins were now walking back to their place. "You must have left an impression on him if he was willing to do that."

"He was just really nice." He hadn't thought much on it.

Syaoran fell silent after that. He carefully looked at his brother's face and smiled softly to himself. "I see."

"But anyways, I'm just paying him back for the meal." Grinning they made it home quick enough.

"Uh-huh..." Syaoran wasn't stupid. It wasn't everyday that someone would just do that for his brother no matter what the circumstances were. "Did you get a name at least?"

"Yuui." He answered simply.

"Ah..." Then Syaoran remembered something. "Hmm...he wouldn't happen to be blonde with blue eyes and had a small ponytail; wouldn't he?"

"Yeah that's him. You've been to the place he works at."

"I know. I just needed to refresh my head a bit." Syaoran stated; pretending to be a bit of a ditz. "I seem to have talk to him a few times when he comes to the library. Always checking out cooking books and the occasional romance novel. Poor guy doesn't seem like he had free time on his hands."

"Yeah, he was running to buy sugar when we ran into each other." Made him feel a little guilty about inviting Yuui out on his day off, maybe he should reschedule or do something else.

"Ah..." Syaoran smiled. "I'm sure if he had a problem with it, he would have said something." He reassured his brother.

"That's true." He was thinking too much about it anyways. "Guess I'll see on Sunday."

"Hm." Syaoran nodded. "I'll go ahead and make some dinner." He went to the kitchen to wash his hands. "Anything you want in particular?"

"Something simple." He offered, heading towards the bathroom to shower and try to wash the ink away.

"Okay." Syaoran then got started in cooking. He was thinking of a simple noodle dish with chopped veggies and bits of meat in it. Good thing he bought some ice cream for dessert.

He was back within fifteen minutes. "Looks good." Syaoron grinned as he made himself a bowl.

"Thanks." Syaoran grinned as he got himself a bowl. "I think I made a bit too much so eat as much as you want."

"I might take some for lunch tomorrow." He suggested grabbing himself a soda before plopping down at their small table.

Taking a soda himself, Syaoran sat across from his brother around the table. It was a bit lonely around the apartment sometimes but being with each other; it was enough for him.

They ate and talked with each other about their days and anything interesting that had happened.

Syaoran mentioned that he met a girl with light brown hair and smile on her face. She was checking out a book about flowers but he had to help her when it turned out she was carrying more books then she can handle.

"So did you ask her out?"

"Wha-ack!" Syaoran nearly choked on the noodles. He had to cough a few times. When he was done with that, he frowned. "No! I just met her!"

"You like her though, she sounds pretty cute." He gave his brother a sly smile. "Maybe some other time."

"In my dreams, maybe." Syaoran grumbled to himself. "That is if that brother of hers would ever let her after today."

"Ah, so she has one of those brothers?" Shaking his head he grinned. "Guess you're just unlucky."

Groaning, Syaoran just continued eating; not up to talk about it anymore.

~days later~

"What's taking you so long? Still have trouble with the register?" Ioryogi scratched the side of his head as he stepped inside the store from the back, seeing a couple of people waiting by the counter to buy something.

"I'm getting there." Kurogane responded as he clicked a few buttons and finally getting that slot to open. After some time, Kurogane more or less got used to being at the shop as he worked the cash register. Of course it wasn't to say that he didn't have a few problems getting there but he managed. He quickly got the first customer in line and then the other. It was slow but he was getting there.

"Once you're done you need to start polishing the silverware." Ioryogi liked to keep his more expensive items clean.

"Got it." Kurogane nodded as he continuing getting customers on his way. He was so busy that he didn't see a blonde with a short ponytail coming in.

"Ioryogi?" The blonde called out. " Are you here? I just wanted to drop off some lunch for you in case you haven't ate yet." Kurogane glanced up and did a double take. What the hell?

Ioryogi removed his gloves putting them into his apron pockets. "Yeah I'm here." He strolled over to the blonde. "You don't have to keep bringing me food. I'm working on your order as fast as I can."

"You keep telling me that but you know I won't listen." The blonde stuck out his tongue in a smile. "And don't worry about it. I'm in no rush so you shouldn't be either. Here." He gave the man the bag. "Enjoy."

In the background, Kurogane was trying hard not to stare; distracting himself with the last customer before going over to the side of the shop to polish the silverware.

He shook his head before grabbing the bag. "That's because you're thick headed."

"You still like my food so don't even bother." The blonde joked. His blue eyes then glanced at the other man polishing the silverware. "Well that's odd. Got yourself a new worker, Ioryogi?"

"A whelp to help around here." He glanced over his shoulder to Kurogane polishing a little too hard on a case of forks.

"I see." The blonde smiled. "Something tells me he's a bit of a hard head like someone else I know." The blonde teased; always finding enough time to have some small talk with his long-time friend.

"Tch, like you're one to talk." He growled, thinking Yuui was being a pest again.

The blonde laughed softly. "Right, keep telling yourself that." He then checked his watch. "Ah. My break's almost over. Must be getting back to the cafe." That piqued Kurogane's interest a bit. A cafe?

"Yeah, yeah. I'll call when I get those knives done." He called after the blonde before he was out the door.

"Okay. Nice seeing you again." The blonde smiled as he waved. "And good luck, new worker!" He called to Kurogane; not really knowing his name. "Ioryogi may be a strict but he means well. Bye!"

Kurogane barely looked over his shoulder as he gave the blonde a little wave; a bit happy when the blonde saw that before he was gone for good. He then went back to polishing the rest of the silverware.

Ioryogi frowned at the door before he turned heading to go wash his hands and then eat.

Kurogane was just about finished with the polishing as he went back to the cashier. "You and the blonde seem like decent friends." He couldn't help but comment.

"He's annoying." He had since pulled up a stool and unpack his meal. Yuui had put in a burger and fries for him along with a slice of some kind of pie. Even if it was simple, the blonde managed to make it interesting and good.

The man wondered if this is what mother saw when he mentioned the blonde barely a week ago. "And yet he brings you food. Must have done something right." He wondered if it was the same blonde. He mentioned a cafe it may not be. But then again...

"We had sex a couple times if that's what you're wanting to know." Ioryogi said before he began to eat. He wasn't sure why Kurogane was so curious about his life all the sudden, but he supposed he was a bit of an idiot.

Kurogane had to blink a couple of times before scoffing. "Like I need to know what you do after hours." And people say he had a bad sense of humor.

Ioryogi rolled his eyes. Whelpings were always such a bother, he was glad he'd never had any. "Did you finish polishing?"

"Yep." Kurogane nodded. "I was just asking because...I may have seen him around before. Not really sure but whatever. Small world and stuff."

"He works at a nearby restaurant. Clover something, it's popular." He watched a potential costumer came in and began looking towards the silverware.

Kurogane nodded as he saw the potential customer walking around. Unlike the first time, he was prepared and waiting in case a purchase will happen. "Ah, I think I heard of that cafe before. Never bothered going there before though."

"What going to go hit on him?" Ioryogi asked before stuffing his face full of fries.

"Jealous that I might?" Kurogane asked back in a slightly joking manner.

"Tch. I've already got someone." He countered before opening the small box with his pie slice. "And you're the one fishing around. What is it kid, that hard up?"

"He might be someone I have met before. But like I said; I can't be sure." Kurogane then stood upright as the customer came forward with a few knives. He was ringing that person up. "Besides, I juts want to know. No point in pursuing something that isn't worth my time anyway." He idly stated.

"He's alright. A little shy and fidgety." He shrugged as Kurogane wrapped up the knives.

Kurogane thought for a second as he got the money and gave that customer a receipt. That doesn't sound like the blonde he met that night. In fact, it was the opposite of the blonde he just saw. "Huh. I see."

"If you're that interested on your lunch go over and check him out." Ioryogi didn't need some whelp with raging hormones in his store.

"Geez, I was only asking." Kurogane didn't get Ioryogi's problem. "He may not be the one I met anyway so there."

"He has a brother, a twin." Ioryogi smirked. "He's a firecracker for a human."

Now that was something worth hearing. "Huh. I see." Still, it might be someone else, twins or not. "Well in that case, maybe I /will/ visit that cafe. Only because I would give something for mother; she always had a soft spot for sweets." He grew to dislike sweets in general but couldn't resist the temptation once in a while.

"That reminds me, your mom's a pretty good cook too isn't she?" He smiled wide, teeth flashing.

"Yeah, she is." Kurogane couldn't help but slightly grin back. His mother was the best; hands down. Nothing can compete with her meals.

He shook his head, thinking Kurogane was too dim sometimes. "Maybe I'll stop by sometime and pay her a visit."

"Fine but do anything to her and you and I will be battling it out on a rooftop of a skyscraper." Kurogane half-threatened, half joked. He wasn't stupid but he knew that the man can't really do anything...mostly.

"You're a few decades too early to be fighting me." He dug into his dessert then and sighed. "You can go for lunch now, it's died down."

"Fine. I'll be back in a bit." Kurogane then walked past the man and out of the shop. The day went by without a hitch. Kurogane did manage to go to the cafe at lunch but couldn't see the blonde anywhere. Probably busy. But he did get something for his mother.

TBC

Slowly and slowly into the story...slowly...