The Uke Flu
Chapter Thirty-three: Disclosures
While his reconciliation with Nowaki left Hiroki feeling peaceful on that front, after all the dramatics of the previous day, Nowaki's and his nocturnal activities, and his mother's early morning wake up call, Hiroki was feeling more than a little haggard when he left home that morning.
If I continue to feel this worn out I might not make it to Akihiko's this afternoon after classes, Hiroki worried. This compounded a growing sense of unease.
It hadn't helped his anxiety when he finally turned on his own phone before reaching the train and his voicemail was full. Hiroki ignored the messages and checked the numbers on his missed calls. Most were numbers he didn't recognize and he assumed these were most likely reporters. Mixed amidst these, more than a dozen calls had been from his mother, about another dozen from Miyagi. Hiroki didn't bother to check the senior professor's messages. He assumed Miyagi or his brat had seen something on the news and had been calling to tease him. He noticed that his editor had called a couple times too and made a mental note to call him when he got to his office.
He phoned his mother once he'd made it out of the station on the other end of his commute and was walking to campus, to make sure she was okay after her "fall." Their conversation was disheartening: it had taken him months to set up his upcoming meeting to discuss his commitment ceremony with his parents and now his mother advised him it would probably be best if he and Nowaki didn't come to visit.
She also suggested that he not try to contact his father anytime soon. The senior Kamijou had known about his homosexuality long before his mother and had already all but disowned him. Considering this, Hiroki had not really been surprised at this response to what his father had seen on the news. Still, that didn't make his mother's warning hurt any less.
When he reached the campus Hiroki set these thoughts aside. He felt eyes on him almost immediately.
Probably just my imagination, I mean how popular could Yuki and Shindou really be?
This internal assurance quickly evaporated as more than one student who saw "Devil Kamijou" as he entered the literature and languages building openly stared. Hiroki shot glaring scowls back at the reckless few who were brave enough to whisper as he passed. More than his parents had seen the news apparently. Hiroki tried to remind himself that he was doing this for Nowaki, and thanked god it was only pretend. He couldn't imagine how he would have felt if he had actually been pregnant.
He opened his office door and stepped in, bracing himself for a torrent of teasing from Miyagi.
Miyagi was working early. He'd started doing this since Shinobu had early classes this term and he had decided that he didn't like being in their apartment alone much. Not that he would ever admit this to Shinobu.
"Good morning," Miyagi said without looking up from the stack of papers he was grading. Hiroki waited for the follow up harassment. His brow furrowed when none came. He moved over to his desk and sat down, started pulling his papers out of his bag, and waited.
Still no response from Miyagi.
Hiroki shot the older professor a surreptitious look and then shrugged and went to work organizing his lecture notes. After about fifteen minutes of quiet though, the waiting had become unbearable.
"Well?" Hiroki demanded, unable to endure whatever new tactic of torture this was that Miyagi was trying out on him.
"Well, what?" Miyagi looked up from his papers with a curious expression.
"Oh, come on, Professor. I can't believe you don't have something to say to me this morning. Surely you saw the news."
"And what, my dear Ka-mi-jou, might you be expecting me to say?" Miyagi's mouth quirked up a bit at the corners.
"Oh, I don't know..." Hiroki, in a rare display, offered his impression of Miyagi, adopting the older man's singsong cadence that was in complete opposition to his normal growly tones. "Something like, 'Ah my dear Ka-mee-jou, I wondered why you'd been so irritable lately, but then it's so hard to tell as you're usually in such a mood already most of the time.'"
"First," Miyagi said, looking a bit hurt, "I don't believe I sound anything like that. You're really terrible at impressions, you know that, Kamijou? "
Hiroki rolled his eyes.
"And second," Miyagi went on ignoring his junior's expression. "I think I would come up with something much more funny and original to say if I was going to tease you. Which, I don't plan to do, by the way."
"What?" Hiroki sensed this must be some sort of trap Miyagi was setting for him. "Isn't that why you called so many times yesterday? To offer comments about my impending 'miracle' and over-sexed giants."
Miyagi sighed. "Professor, did you not listen to any of the messages I left you?"
Hiroki felt his cheeks grow hot.
Miyagi shook his head in exasperation. "There were two reasons I called. The first was that your editor was desperately trying to get a hold of you. It seems that the mention of your book in the tabloids sparked a big interest in it and he has been trying desperately to reach you to discuss a second printing and some offers for interviews."
"Really?" Hiroki's eyes widened in surprise.
He felt a little bad that Miyagi had been the one to get these messages as the man had just been rejected for about the fortieth time, trying to find a publisher for his newest book on Matsuo Basho. Hiroki had read Miyagi's manuscript at least four times and the work was a masterpiece. He knew that it must have been painful for the older academic to hear of this news.
"Yes. If you would just listen to your messages occasionally, mine and others, you would know this," Miyagi grumbled. "In fact I am surprised he hasn't tried to call you already this morning."
"Well, for the most part I have had my phone off," Hiroki admitted sheepishly. Then he looked at Miyagi. "You said there were two reasons you called last night. So what was the other one?"
"It's irrelevant now, I suppose, but I was seeking some advice." Miyagi looked pointedly away from Hiroki not meeting his gaze.
"Advice on what?"
"It doesn't really matter now."
Now Hiroki was curious. He waited, watching Miyagi carefully, knowing that his loquacious senior would reveal it to him at some point.
Miyagi looked at Hiroki with a pained expression. "Shinobu wore me down and we fucked last night." Hiroki made an expression of distaste at this revelation.
"Okay, first, I really didn't need to know that. Second, how is that different for you from any other night? And third, why would you be calling to ask me about fornicating with Takatsuki-kun, Professor?"
"No wonder you got knocked up, Kamijou. You obviously pay no attention to timelines. I was hoping that you might come over and talk Shinobu out of his Flu baby bug while he was still at risk."
Hiroki stared at his senior, his face clearly revealed his surprise. "Why in the hell would your brat listen to me about anything?"
Miyagi shook his head. "All this time now, Professor, and you still haven't picked up anything about Shinobu…" As Shinobu was his favorite subject these days, perhaps even above Matsuo Basho, this lack of study on Hiroki's part flummoxed Miyagi. "Because under that bold front of his, he respects you, admires you even. Even if you two didn't meet under the best of circumstances."
Hiroki winced recalling just how he and Takatsuki-kun met. The boy looking down on him and Miyagi, the two of them caught in a tangle of books and limbs.
"I could have used a bolster too. It might have helped me refrain… And, by the way, I don't appreciate it that you lied to me about taking the vaccine." Miyagi's expression was genuinely wounded. "I can understand your reasoning and all, but still, Kamijou… I thought we were supposed to be friends."
Hiroki dropped his eyes at this reprimand and wondered how Miyagi was going to feel when he found out he was lying to him again. Then his blush grew darker when he recalled their conversation from days prior.
"You mean you gave Takatsuki-kun the third stage Flu?" Hiroki murmured. He looked back up at Miyagi. "But what about all the things you said regarding him being too young? Plus you haven't even announced your relationship, let alone your engagement to his parents yet."
"This weekend…" Miyagi carried some nervousness in his tone. "Shinobu and I are having dinner with his parents. And as far as the pregnancy thing, well, we don't know yet.
"To be honest, Kamijou now that the deed has been done, I'm not as worried about it. Risako and I tried for kids when we were married and she never caught. She said it was my fault, though I never looked into it. Anyway, I am glad it didn't work out then." Hiroki felt his cheeks redden again but said nothing. He had no desire to get pulled into a discussion about Miyagi's fertility. Miyagi ignored Hiroki's obvious discomfort. He rubbed his shaggy head and his hand went automatically for his breast pocket looking for the cigarettes that hadn't been there for months.
"Despite what I said to you the other day, Shinobu says he really wants this and you know I have never been very good about saying 'no' to him. I'm more worried that he's going to be disappointed when he finds out he's not third stage."
Hiroki knew just how Miyagi felt about the difficulties of "no."
"But what about law school?"
"Shinobu said if he did catch, he'd go as long as he could and then maybe pick it up again later. He said that law was something that he was interested in but that he wants this more." Miyagi sounded melancholic at this prospect. "You know he comes into the trust his grandfather set up for him next year, so he'll probably never really have to work unless he wants to."
Hiroki frowned. "That's kind of a messed up set of priorities for a man of Takatsuki-kun's age, if you ask me, Professor."
"Look who's talking," Miyagi snorted. "Such news, so close to your tenure review."
Hiroki paled. "They can't take that into account. That's not legal!"
Miyagi felt bad for scaring the younger man, but he didn't want Hiroki to be blind to the possibilities either. He felt it was only right that his junior be aware of how things worked.
"No, Kamijou, it's not legal," Miyagi sighed. "But you know how hard it is for female faculty here. What makes you think they'll be any easier on you because you're a man? If anything, as homophobic as some of the older faculty is, it might even be harder."
Hiroki had known of several instances where female faculty had not had their contracts renewed or had been denied tenure for nebulous reasons not long after starting a family or even getting married, for that matter. That this injustice might extend to him, after all the work he had done, was a possibility he hadn't even considered when he had offered to pretend to be pregnant for Nowaki.
Miyagi looked at Hiroki's creased forehead and his heart went out to him.
"My advice, Kamijou, is that you call your publisher a.s.a.p. and take advantage of the press your book is getting. It will only help your cause." Miyagi shifted his eyes to the clock and started gathering his notes.
"If Shinobu does have third stage, maybe you two can still get together and talk about whatever it is pregnant ukes talk about." Miyagi's teasing tone covered his great disconcertion at the sudden shifts in his previously predictable life. He grabbed his things and headed out of their office.
"Sounds like a fucking blast," Hiroki growled as he reached for his phone to call his editor. Things were going to be a lot more complicated than he'd thought.
NEW AN:
Sorry no notes today, guys, but I thought you'd rather have a new chapter. I'll try and catch up next post.
Thank you though, for all the amazing feedback. I have the best readers in the world!
OLD AN:
Kristin from Italy, I am glad you feel that the characters are ...well, in character. I hate it when people feminize Hiroki or any of the ukes. They are men. That was part of my goal with this fic, to have one of the characters be pregnant and still stay… well, male. I am glad your BF is lovely… that means I will not be compelled to fly there and steal you from him. All your lovely kisses make me blush and think of where to put that last one… well, let me nuzzle you behind the ear in thanks for that.
Teabags, I picked that name out, but it was the same one I used for Hiroki's mother in the Spatula test. Also, Hiroki really doesn't penetrate Nowaki often so the babies should be fine. Besides, once the new womb detaches from the rectum and ends up where it is supposed to be in the father's abdomen, there's not really any anal access to the babies.
ArtlieST, I once dropped my phone off a three story balcony and it didn't work for two days and then as I was going to the store to get a new phone it rang. True story…anyway, that was where I got that bit.
X, you are not a sap. That is one of my favorite places to be kissed and you're right, it does take some trust. Hopefully you got my pm about the body roll. And once they get to their birthing classes, Nowaki will be sitting on Hiro-san's lap, or at least between his legs a lot. But I'll see if I can't work another lap scene or two in there for you. I have read "The Stages of Growth," and several other things by that author. Very good. I think they're in my favorites in fact. And see how you inspire me… I am delighted you can pick out the parts your comments have informed.
Segment Thought, Miss Mysty, Luna Lilly 19, Black Flamingo 101 thank you all for reviewing. Glad to know you are reading along.
Maggie Mae, Ah yes, I wonder if that might not be you. And thank you for your comments. I too am distressed at how accepting most fics have the families be… not that I don't wish that the world were like that, I truly do… but the reality of the world is not so kind… trust me, I know.