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. . . . .

The Mai Museum grand opening was a formal affair, which meant Takaba was going to have to be fitted for a tux. Asami instructed Kirishima to take Takaba to his tailor. At the present moment, Takaba was standing next to the limo. Kirishima had opened the door and was waiting patiently for him to get in. Takaba had never before ridden in it without Asami, and the thought of doing so seemed too pretentious.

"Umm..." Takaba eyed the limo uncomfortably. "I'll just walk and you can meet me there..."

Kirishima calmly pushed his glasses up on his face. "No, I'll be taking you there. Get in."

"No, you're not," Takaba argued, crossing his arms. "I'm not riding in a limo like some pampered prince! I'll be walking there myself... GOT IT!?"

Kirishima opened his mouth as if to scold him, but then his eyes suddenly shifted to looked past Takaba. He frowned. Then he turned his head slightly to the left and his eyes widened. "Takaba..." He spoke calmly in a low voice, but he also appeared alarmed.

Takaba felt a sharp pang of fear. "W-what is it?"

We're being ambushed! Takaba whipped around to look in the direction that Kirishima was staring. As soon as he turned, he was grabbed forcefully from behind.

Shit!

"Kiri...!"

He felt himself being picked up and then he was thrown into the limo. The door closed and the locks were activated. He looked up and saw Kirishima smirking at him through the window. "I'll be taking you there," he heard the muffled voice say from the other side of the car door. He walked over to the driver's side, got in, and started the car.

Takaba tried to unlock the door but the locks wouldn't budge. What kind of car locks people INSIDE it? Helpless, Takaba watched as the car pulled into traffic. The privacy window between the driver and the back seat was closed. Takaba banged on it with his fist.

Vweeeeen. The privacy window rolled down.

"Yes?" He heard Kirishima's deep voice reply.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Takaba yelled at the back of Kirishima's head. "That was a stupid thing to do! Now how am I going to trust you when there REALLY is danger!?"

"I promise I won't ever do that again. And to make it up to you, I'm going to let you in on a little secret- there's a lock override switch back there. Find it, and you can lock or unlock the door at will."

"Where...?"

Vweeeeen. The privacy window rolled back up.

Yes, of course there would be an override switch somewhere back here. Takaba searched all around in the back of the limo until he finally found a hidden panel that opened to reveal an assortment of switches. He pushed the switch with the lock icon to the up position and heard the satisfying sound of the locks popping back up.

"HA!" Takaba crowed triumphantly.

The car came to a stop and Kirishima got out. They had arrived at the tailor's.

. . . . .

When he first walked into the tailor's, he casually looked through the racks of tuxes. I'm going to look absolutely ridiculous in one of these. However, the tailor came over and took him back to another area with styles that seemed to cater to a younger crowd. It wasn't long before the man put together an outfit for him and had him try it on. He placed pins in it everywhere to shorten the slacks and the length of the shirt sleeves and coat. Then the man turned him around so he was facing a full-length mirror.

Takaba couldn't stop looking at himself in the mirror. I really look good in this!

"I'll take it. How much?"

Kirishima cleared his throat to catch the tailor's attention and then whispered something at him.

"Yes sir. I'll have it ready by tomorrow." The man wrote something down on a pad and walked off.

"But... I need to know how much..." Takaba protested.

Kirishima attempted to guide him toward the dressing room. "Don't be rude. You know Asami is paying for it."

"I don't want him buying my clothes!"

"Fine," Kirishima pushed him into the dressing room. "You can pay for the tie then."

. . . . .

Vweeeeen. The privacy window in the limo rolled down.

Vweeeeen. The privacy window rolled up.

The locks popped up. The locks popped down. The locks popped back up.

Vweeeeen. The privacy window rolled back down.

The air conditioner was turned on at full blast.

The radio came on and was switched back and forth between several stations before settling on music with a pounding beat.

The volume was turned up.

The volume was turned up even higher.

"Wow! This is all right!" Takaba yelled at Kirishima over the loud music, "I COULD GET USED TO THIS!"

The locks popped down. The locks popped up. The locks popped back down.

. . . . .

Takaba stood in front of a mirror in his room, staring at the way he looked with uncertainty. The tie ended up costing nearly one of his paychecks. I can't imagine how much the rest of this cost. I thought this looked great in the store but now that I'm dressed for tonight, I don't think this is appropriate for a Museum opening.

Asami walked into his room, dressed in a stylish but classic tux. Takaba took one good look at him and then panicked.

"That's what you're wearing?! I'm not dressed right! I look... I don't know... too radical!"

"It's fine, don't worry." Asami took a closer look at him. "Actually, you look..." He took a deep breath and looked at his watch. "Are you ready?"

"I look... I LOOK, WHAT?!"

"Akihito. It's time to go."

"O-okay." Takaba started to walk out of his room but stopped when he spotted his camera. "I guess bringing that would definitely be inappropriate." Takaba stared wistfully at his camera.

"Yes, it would. But if I were you, I might slip my cell phone in my pocket."

. . . . .

Takaba rode nervously in the limo with Asami. Asami looked calm... bored even.

The drop off area for the museum grand opening had two areas. The first one was for the big celebrities so they could be photographed and filmed as they walked to the entrance, and the second was for other guests.

Kirishima pulled up to the second drop off area. There was a man standing there waiting to open the car door. Since Asami was on that side, he got out first and then Takaba followed. There was one photographer off to the side who was snapping pictures of guests at this drop off. Takaba ducked behind Asami to avoid being photographed. The photographer only took a couple of pictures and then moved on to the next car that was pulling up.

Looking over to the first drop off area, Takaba could see the photographer's area where he would have been standing. Walking right past them was a well-known pop singer. Takaba felt a little envious at first but then realized he would be going inside the museum with the singer. I might even get to talk to her!

Asami and Takaba walked up the red carpeted steps to the entrance. Near the entrance was where the press box was located. Preening and posing in front of them was a famous Hollywood actress with her equally famous actor husband standing off to the side.

Wow! Them too?

He spotted Mitarai in the very back of the press box. From his position, Mitarai looked like he was having a difficult time getting photos without the cameramen in front of him getting in his way. Despite that, Takaba ducked to the opposite side of Asami so Mitarai wouldn't spot him.

There was a bit of a crowd going through the entrance. Takaba hesitated, but then he felt a hand on the middle of his back gently guiding him to the entrance. They stopped moving forward briefly as they waited for the ushers to check the guest invitations, but Asami's hand remained pressed against his back.

It seemed like too intimate of a gesture. A man would not do this to another man, would he? Especially out in public? Takaba wondered anxiously. Finally, Asami removed his hand once they reached the usher, and pulled out his invitation. Takaba looked around at the guests and noticed right away they were all paired up male/female. Am I the only male guest of a male invitee? Takaba began to feel self-conscious.

They walked into a reception area and Takaba looked around nervously. Male, female. Male, female.

Male... male?

He finally spotted two men entering together and then noticed that there were other groups of men standing together and chatting. Not only that, but he also recognized a British rock star, from a band called "Disquietous", who stuck out because he was dressed so flamboyantly. Other younger men were dressed in a style not much different from what Takaba was wearing.

"Ah! Asami-sama!" an older man in a classic tux called out as he approached them.

"Well?" Asami cocked an eyebrow at Takaba expectantly.

Takaba was confused. "What?"

"You don't want to be stuck listening to a couple of boring old businessmen talk. Go mingle with the younger crowd." Asami turned and walked toward the man who had been calling out to him.

"Mingle. Yes." Takaba said to nobody in particular. He walked over to get a closer look at the flashy rock star.

The rock star was speaking rather loudly to a small group of people, but then took notice of Takaba. "Oh and who might you be, my Japanese friend?'

Takaba introduced himself. "I am Takaba Akihito. I am just a lowly guest."

"Aren't we all just lowly guests in the midst of all this brilliant talent? This is Anaïs. She's the real star here with her famous photography collection gracing this museum." He pointed toward a corridor. "Have you seen it?"

Takaba looked at the young woman with interest. "You're a photographer? No, I haven't seen it yet."

"Then I shall ask her to personally show you her piccies. Naturally, she wouldn't think of offering herself because she's a snobby Frenchwoman." The rock star turned to Anaïs and grinned mischievously.

"How rude!" Anaïs smiled playfully back at him. "You say I am a snob yet you did not introduce yourself to this young man. This is Leo. He is an obnoxious Englishman and occasionally, a musician. Come, I will show you that I have more manners than that man."

Anaïs took his arm and led him down one of the hallways. Takaba glanced quickly in Asami's direction and saw Asami look up and meet his gaze momentarily, then return his attention to the person who was talking to him. Well, he did say to go mingle.

Anaïs led him to a display of photographs. They were landscape pictures of vineyards. "Did you take these in France?" Takaba asked.

"These... I take in Italy. I like to take pictures of old buildings, but this vineyard has charm so I try something different and everyone seems to like it. I think maybe I should try more landscape photos, no?"

"Yes! These are beautiful. I like how you got those sunbeams lighting up different areas on the hill. My father likes to take pictures of landscapes too. He's traveled to a lot of different countries. It's my dream to do this as well, but I prefer taking pictures of people."

"Oh, you are photographer as well? Is your work here also?"

"NO!" Takaba blushed embarrassed. "No, I'm not at the same level. I uh... work for a local newspaper. I'm really just a party-crasher."

"Do you know the work of... oh, it is a Canadian photographer... McLaurin. Sorry, I cannot recall his first name. He also likes to take pictures of people. I will show you..."

Anaïs led him further down and they looked at a series of black and white photos of natives in the Amazon forest. Takaba was mesmerized. "Yes! This is exactly what I want to do! These are really good."

"Yes, he is good." Anaïs took his arm again and they began to walk back to the reception area. "He is a favorite of my husband, but sadly my husband is not here tonight to see these."

"Your husband? Oh, I thought Leo..."

"You think Leo is my husband?" Anaïs laughed. "No, I am not Leo's type. He has a boyfriend."

"Oh..." Takaba looked uncomfortable.

"This is bad in Japan for two men to be lovers, is it not?"

"It's... not spoken about." Takaba took notice of Asami who now had several people surrounding him. Again Asami looked up at Takaba- this time with a piercing gaze. Takaba looked away quickly.

Anaïs released Takaba's arm as a waiter approached them with a tray. "Would you like some Champagne?"

Both Takaba and Anaïs took a glass. Takaba gulped down his glass rather quickly.

. . . . .

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