Title: The Imperial Palace Chapter 18.

Setting: Strip Club AU.

Rating: T (for boys kissing hurrhurr)

Pairing: Shiraishi/Kirihara (Surprise!)

Warnings: Uncreative content, possible OOC-ness, I destroyed the Imperial Palace, I mean Oshitari destroyed it, I'm serious Oshitari fucking destroyed a strip club. Also wow I turned Shiraishi into a total weirdo. Sorry about that.

Actual Warning: Underage boy kissing not-underage boy.

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.

~o~o~o~

The night ended in a disaster.

No one was quite sure what had happened. The evening had started off normally. All the dancers were off doing their jobs and the customers were enthusiastically dancing or groping the strippers as usual. The DJ had put on some pretty good music and Fuji had been grinding on the pole like he had been born to do it; nothing was out of the ordinary.

Honestly, it wasn't anyone's fault, not really. The new bartenders were still getting used to the job and had only been working there for a couple of nights at most. They hadn't known... until it was too late.

The entire club had to be evacuated. Alarms were sounding and people were screaming, rushing outside in a mad flurry. The dancers grouped together for warmth, rushing out into the cold night wearing nearly nothing. Three police cars were there, and even one firetruck racing down the street. Atobe was off to the side, screaming at someone in a police uniform. Most of the clients were already gone, off bar-hopping elsewhere, but some had whipped out their cellphones and were videotaping anything they could see.

"What happened?" Everyone seemed to be asking.

Shiraishi was one of the last to exit the club, followed only by Jackal the bodyguard. He went to stand with his co-workers, who were all off to the side and huddled in a circle with only a few jackets to cover them. Sanada was there too, standing protectively behind Yukimura.

"Oh thank god," said Yukimura when he spotted Shiraishi. "I thought you were done for. When I saw him going after you…" Yukimura shook his head, moving in to hug him. "I feared the worst."

Behind them, one of the new bartenders was crying, huddled on the sidewalk with his head down. The second bartender was nearby, still visibly shaken and stuttering out answers to whatever questions a policeman was asking him.

"Oh dear. I hope Atobe-kun doesn't fire them. They honestly didn't know any better," said Shiraishi. Still, he too was shaken. That had been a sight he had hoped to never see again. "It was hell in there… Oshitari's just out of control." It had all happened so fast, in the split second when Atobe had taken his eyes off his friend Oshitari Yuushi.

"H-He j-just asked me f-for another drink…" said the bartender to the police officers, trembling and pale. "I-I didn't know he had already had five… I didn't know h-he had a five drink limit…"

Atobe stepped forward, fisting his hand through the new employee's shirt. "You're the one who gave him another drink? You moron! You're fired! And you too for not stopping him!" He shouted at both bartenders in a rage. "You never ever give Oshitari a sixth drink! Not if you value your lives."

A loud crashing sound came from within the club. A policeman re-emerged from within, his clothes completely dishevelled. "We need backup! Call reinforcements!"

Fuji shook his head. "I never thought this would happen again. I never thought I'd live to see Oshitari drunk once more."

"At least he didn't start a fire this time," said Yukimura. "Let's just pray the police can get him under control."

Atobe groaned, looking like he wanted to leave and deal with this shit some other time. "I swear to god, if there's any property damage…" Another loud crash came from within. It sounded like Oshitari had finally dismantled the pole like he had been trying to do before. Atobe sighed. "On the other hand, I should just go call the insurance company right now. The rest of you can go. I don't think we'll be able to re-open the club tonight."

The dancers all exchanged looks. "Whatever, as long as I get paid for this," said Mukahi and left in the direction of his noisy old car. Shishido ran to beg him for a lift but Mukahi drove away while giving him the finger.

Fuji found a clean spot along the sidewalk and sat down. "My things are still inside. I'll wait here I suppose," he said with a shrug. Poor Fuji hadn't been too cheerful recently. His mood didn't lift no matter what anyone said to him.

"How about we go?" Yukimura asked Sanada. The capped man nodded, his concerned expression fading away when he realized he would be getting extra time to spend with Yukimura. They were about to leave when Yukimura stopped and looked over at Shiraishi. Yukimura took the oversized black jacket off his shoulders and tossed it over to Shiraishi. "Wear it before you get arrested please."

Shiraishi protested. "You'll get cold-"

"I still have a shirt on," said Yukimura. "Don't worry, just give it back tomorrow."

Fine. Shiraishi supposed it couldn't be helped. He shrugged the jacket on, realizing only when Yukimura had gone that the jacket was too big to be Yukimura's. No doubt it was Sanada's.

Shiraishi didn't like this one bit. He couldn't go home now! It was only ten o'clock. Going home and sleeping now would ruin his entire cycle. Shiraishi was not about to toss his perfectly balanced time intervals of slumber into disequilibrium simply because Oshitari had gotten a little drunk and destroyed half of the Imperial Palace.

He supposed he could go kill some time. Shiraishi still felt wide awake.

The place he ended up at was a small coffee shop one street over. The bell rang as Shiraishi entered the small place. It was rather dim, with comfy-looking couches and dull music. There was more people than he expected, though most of them were young adults with heavy school books, tall coffee mugs and bags under their eyes.

"One chai tea please," Shiraishi told the man behind the counter.

"That'll be 210 yen."

Shiraishi had a momentarily moment of panic when he reached into the pockets of the long jacket and remembered that he didn't have his wallet on him. He remembered his tips a moment later. He reached under the long jacket, accidentally flashing a bit of skin to the cashier in the process, and found a rumpled 1000 yen bill stuffed along the hem of his skin-tight blue briefs. He grabbed it and tried to straighten it out as best he could before handing it to the cashier with a smile.

The cashier looked like Shiraishi had handed him a used tissue. The man took the bill with the barely tips of his fingers and practically threw the change back at Shiraishi. The tea followed a second later. The cashier didn't even look up as Shiraishi thanked him.

Shiraishi took his tea and found a seat next to the window. He wondered if everything at the Imperial Palace had calmed down yet. Depending on how much damage was done, the club might have to remain closed tomorrow. Atobe must be in a fury plus he now had to hire new bartenders on top of it all.

The person sitting at the table behind Shiraishi let out a long sigh, followed by the ruffling of pages.

Ah, it really was such a shame, Shiraishi thought as he sipped his tea. It had been such a good night too, with all the right vibes and the rampant feeling of ecstasy rushing through him as he danced. Shiraishi had really been in the mood back there. He could only hope Oshitari would get better soon. The sooner everything went back to normal, the faster Shiraishi could get back into his routine.

As Shiraishi considered how he would be spending his day tomorrow, the person behind him dropped something and groaned. A pencil rolled along the floor, stopping right next to Shiraishi's foot.

Shiraishi smiled and bent over to pick it up. When Shiraishi turned, he found a dark-haired young man bent over a heavy book and looking like he understood absolutely nothing of it.

"Don't push yourself," said Shiraishi, beaming. He held the pencil out, placing it along the corner of the table "It will come to you. Just let the ecstasy flow."

The boy looked up seconds later, realizing Shiraishi was addressing him. "What the heck are you-" The boy froze, his green eyes going wide. Shiraishi realized in the same instant that he knew this boy with the messy black curls.

"Ah." Shiraishi scratched his head for a second. "Kirihara-chan, right?"

Kirihara rushed to stuff all his books into his backpack as fast as he could. In the process, he managed to drop his pencil case. Pens and erasers rolled out, one falling under the table. Kirihara cursed and chased after it.

Shiraishi got up to help, picking up the pen closest to him. Kirihara snatched it out of his hand in an instant, abandoning whatever was left on the ground. He clipped Shiraishi's shoulder hard on his way out. Kirihara didn't even turn to apologize. Kirihara rushed out like he had seen something very disturbing.

Concerned, Shiraishi ran after him.

"Wait, Kirihara-chan!" Shiraishi shouted when he was outside. Kirihara had his back hunched and continued walking like he hadn't heard anything. Shiraishi screamed louder. "Kirihara-chan!"

"Stop calling me that!" Finally Kirihara turned to glare at Shiraishi. "Stop following me, I can walk home by myself!" Shiraishi jogged over to Kirihara's side, happy that he'd remembered the boy's name correctly. Kirihara narrowed his eyes. "And where the hell are your pants?" the boy asked.

Shiraishi's legs were very much bare under the long jacket. He shrugged. "My boss's friend got drunk and trashed the club. I have no idea if my pants survived," Shiraishi explained. He smiled and stepped closer to ruffle Kirihara's hair. "How are you, little one? I'm glad you took my advice seriously and stopped coming to the club."

Kirihara slapped his hand away. "Yeah, I wonder why I never returned. It must be because you told my mother and had me grounded for a month," said Kirihara, his voice oozing sarcasm.

"Oh Kirihara-chan, it was for your own good."

"I don't care! I hate you!" Kirihara cried out. "I got into so much trouble because of you!"

"It's safer that way, Kirihara-chan," said Shiraishi with a wide smile. "Boys your age shouldn't be out at night in clubs. There are all kinds of dangerous people in the world ready to prey on cute little boys like you."

"I can defend myself perfectly fine! I'll be eighteen really soon," whined Kirihara. He looked away. "I don't care about getting grounded. I… I just didn't want my mom to find out like this."

Kirihara crossed his arms, blinking rapidly as if trying to ward off some distress. He genuinely did look dismayed.

"Find out what?" Shiraishi asked, though he had a vague suspicion judging by how quiet Kirihara had gotten. He waited patiently until Kirihara stopped walking. Shiraishi could practically hear the boy's inner debate. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Shiraishi added.

"I-I didn't want her to know… t-that I like… guys," Kirihara said, so low that Shiraishi could barely hear him. "I mean… I think I do. I dunno." He sighed, scratching the curls on his head in confusion.

Poor boy, thought Shiraishi. Kirihara was experiencing that kind of difficult stage. "Your parents would have found out eventually," said Shiraishi, gentle. "If they aren't supportive, give it some time and-"

"No, it's not that," Kirihara snapped, kicking a rock off the sidewalk. "My mom didn't make a big deal out of it. I think she was more upset that I was acquainted with a stripper from the local strip club. She gave me an awkward talk afterwards."

"As your friendly neighbourhood exotic dancer, perhaps I can be of assistance," said Shiraishi. "If you want to talk about it, I'm relatively familiar with this topic."

Kirihara looked at him wearily as if saying 'I really don't want to discuss this'.

"...Or not," Shiraishi added. "I won't force you, but it always helps to talk if you're uncertain."

"I don't know. It's not like I have any experience in this area," said Kirihara, reddening. "I still dunno how I'm supposed to know who I should like. Girls are nice and pretty and all, but they never clicked for me. I was planning to go to the strip club just once, just to see how it was. I was stupid. I thought going in the club would sate my curiosity and end it there. Instead I found..." Kirihara looked over at Shiraishi then turned back around. "Yeah. Sorry, it's a dumb story."

"There's nothing to feel guilty about," Shiraishi said, putting one hand on Kirihara's shoulder. He sighed, clenching his other hand into a passionate fist. "Ah, summer, the season of sweet awakening… When the sweet little bud grows into a flower bursting with lustful desire!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your curiosity is entirely natural, Kirihara-chan," said Shiraishi. "It's all human nature. Truly, who can resist the appeal of the human body in full bloom!"

"Please put your clothes back on."

Shiraishi wasn't exactly sure when he had discarded his jacket. It was on the floor at his feet. He picked it up and put it back on in a hurry, quickly making sure it hadn't gotten dirty. "Sorry, habit," Shiraishi said as an explanation. "But please, don't let something so trivial bring you down. You'll figure all this out." Shiraishi gave Kirihara a thumbs up.

"You're weird," Kirihara said.

They walked in the light of the neon lampposts. Kirihara's worn-out sneakers drsgged against the cemented ground. It was a nice, peaceful night. The stars were all visible and the moon was half full. Shiraishi was glad to be sharing the night with someone else, even if that someone happened to be a rather angry teenager. Shiraishi was sure everything would turn out fine. How could anyone stay upset on such a tranquil night? Surely it was fate that made them meet and allowed him to give Kirihara some words of encouragement.

"…Thanks," Kirihara murmured under his breath, looking up at Shiraishi for a split second. "For listening to me, I mean."

Shiraishi beamed. "Did I help?"

Kirihara shrugged. "Not really. I'm still in the same situation as before. But yeah, I guess talking did make me feel a bit better," he said. "B-But only by a little bit."

"I'm glad."

Kirihara stared at him again. Shiraishi returned the gaze with a widening smile. Kirihara looked away quickly, the blush on his cheeks turning an even deeper shade of crimson.

Cute.

"If ever you need more help, I'm more than happy to assist," Shiraishi said. "Our meeting tonight must have been destiny, don't you agree?"

"Uh… sure?"

They walked together down another block. Halfway through, it became quite apparent to Shiraishi that Kirihara was fidgeting a lot. The boy kept sneaking glances at Shiraishi, more than before, and biting his bottom lip, like a young child trying hard to hold in a secret. Kirihara stopped his steps nearly to a stop, which was odd since Shiraishi knew Kirihara's house was still a bit further down the street.

"What is it?" Shiraishi asked, stopping in his tracks.

Kirihara scratched his head. A dark curl along his forehead stood up nearly at a vertical angle. "Y-You said you wanted to h-help me with this… I mean, figuring all t-this out, right?" Kirihara stuttered, his eyes extremely interested in what was on the sidewalk.

"Yes, I would be glad to help, Kirihara-chan."

Kirihara wiped his palms on his shirt. "W-Well… it's hard to f-figure all this out, w-without any experience." Kirihara had to stop to take a shaky breath. "I-I mean, I'm not asking for anything m-major… and if you're fine with it, then maybe something s-small, like a… a…"

Shiraishi realized early on which direction this was heading into, but still he was impressed when Kirihara managed to stammer it out all by himself.

"…A k-k-k…iss…?" Kirihara's voice broke into a squeak at the end.

Shiraishi had to hold in his laughter. "Kirihara-chan, first you need to be able to look at me before you ask for such things."

Kirihara's eyes were huge green orbs, Shiraishi discovered. Like this, Kirihara resembled a whimpering puppy more than anything. And honestly, how could he possible say no to such a cute, candid face?

"That's better," said Shiraishi, leaning in. "I like to see the face of the person I'm kissing."

"W-Wait!" Kirihara jolted back, surprised by the abruptness of it all. "Are you seriously gonna do this?"

Shiraishi cocked his head. "Yes. You did just ask me. Very nicely, I might add."

"Oh… uh, yeah, okay…" Kirihara didn't appear to know how to respond properly. "Y-You're really weird. But, yeah… I guess we can." He nodded seriously, as if giving the okay for Shiraishi to progress once more.

Amused, Shiraishi slanted forward. When he was close enough to feel Kirihara's frantic breathing, Kirihara closed his eyes, turning his head away.

Shiraishi did laugh a bit this time. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"I-I'm sorry…" Kirihara was sweating a bit. He inched one eye open. "Just hurry up and do it fast."

Shiraishi nudged their noses together. Kirihara appeared to completely stop breathing. Then Shiraishi thought he ought to stop teasing the poor boy, so he kissed him. It wasn't anything spectacular; only a press of his lips to Kirihara's chapped ones for a few long seconds. Shiraishi pulled back out of concern that Kirihara would pass out if he held in his breath any longer.

"There, now you really should be going home. It's very late," Shiraishi said.

"Wait… that's it?"

"What were you expecting exactly?"

Kirihara scuffled his heels against the concrete. "N-Nothing."

"Now come on, I'll walk you the rest of the way home. Your house is in this direction if I remember correctly," Shiraishi said.

"No!" Kirihara looked horrified. "I can walk home alone. I'll get grounded for a whole year this time if mom sees me with you again!"

"Kirihara-chan, we've been through this. I can't simply let a cute boy like you wander the streets alone. If something were to happen, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." He reached for Kirihara but the boy stepped back, dodging Shiraishi's hand.

"Come on, it's only like one street down!" Kirihara whined.

"Kirihara-chan, don't be difficult-"

"I'll tell everyone you kissed me!" Kirihara exclaimed.

Shiraishi froze.

Kirihara smirked triumphantly. "That's right, I'll tell everyone I know how some shady stripper kissed me."

"Ah… please don't do that," Shiraishi said. That… would probably get him fired. Not to mention the possibility of getting arrested. And Shiraishi didn't feel like spending a few nights in jail… again. Only this time the arrest would be for something more serious than indecent public exposure. Shiraishi could only briefly wonder if Kirihara actually meant such a mean threat.

Shiraishi hardly believed it at all. Kirihara, the cute, stubborn airhead was actually...

"I won't say anything," said Kirihara, his grin cocky. "I'll be walking home alone. Of course, if I were to return to the Imperial Palace… I don't want to be kicked out again. I'm sure you can let me in again, right?"

... blackmailing him.

This sweet boy who had just acted so confused and blushed at the thought of a tiny kiss was seriously threatening him, as if Shiraishi had not just agreed to give Kirihara a favour. It took a while for it to get through to Shiraishi's head. By then, Kirihara was walking away, waving back in a carefree manner.

Shiraishi sighed. This was quite the pickle he had gotten himself in. He normally thought of himself as vigilant. Instead, Shiraishi now thought the word gullible must be written all over his forehead.

Nonetheless, Shiraishi followed Kirihara for the last few blocks, staying back far enough so Kirihara wouldn't spot him easily, but near enough to make sure he would be able to run to Kirihara should something happen.

Kirihara made it home safely. Shiraishi was left outside feeling rather bitter at his unfortunate predicament.

This was definitely going to block his ecstasy.

~o~o~o~