Jumping over and dodging any obstacles in his way, Takeru ran at full speed towards one destination.  It had already been a couple of weeks since the night Ruki finally agreed to date him.  He was no longer single!  The afternoon sun shone in his face as he smiled thinking about that night.  But he did realize that he still had his work cut out for him.  Declaring to make Ruki fall in love with him and given how long it took to get him to accept dating…Takeru knew this wasn’t going to be an easy battle.

            “Finally!”  Takeru rounded a corner, zeroing in on the apartments dead ahead.  It was Ruki’s day off today, and Takeru only had one mid-morning class.  That meant he could spend a longer time with him.  As he approached the metal stairs leading to a certain brunette, he stopped dead in his tracks.  Something small was bolting down the stairs towards him.  Takeru quickly scooped up the little black and tan Chihuahua which happily excitedly jumped to his face.  Almost at the same time, he heard a loud voice yelling from the top.

            “Damn it! Koron-chan sto…”  Takeru’s heart skipped a beat as Ruki appeared at the top of the stairs with relief on his face.  “Good job kiddo.  You saved me from having to chase her down.  Looks like she knew you were coming.”  Takeru stared at Ruki.  Every time he saw him was like the very first time over and over again.  So many faces he hadn’t seen yet.  “Hey!  Are you gonna come up here, or do I need to report you for stealing my dog?”  The blonde snapped out of his daze blushing in embarrassment.

            “I-I’m coming!”  Without waiting Ruki turned to go back to his apartment.  Takeru quickly ran up the stairs only stumbling once.  The door had been left open for him, which made him smile.  Once the door was closed securely, he released Koron who quickly sped off disappearing into the apartment.  Slipping off his shoes Takeru finally noticed his surroundings.  There were boxes and piles of clutter everywhere, it was a disaster.  “Is everything okay?  It looks like something exploded in here.”

            “I lost my glasses.  I’ve been searching for them all morning but I can’t see anything, so I’ve had no luck.”

            “I’ll help you look!  Where was the last place you remember having them?”

            “The last place was either the bathroom or bedroom.  I had them before I went to bed.  I usually take them off and leave them on my nightstand, but they’re not there.”  Takeru set his messenger bag down on the couch heading towards the bathroom as Ruki continued rummaging through every crevice in the living room.  At first the blonde casually looked behind objects on the sink, in the mirror cupboard, and behind the toilet.  After having no luck, he started looking at everything that was in the bathroom.  Feeling a little naughty, he picked up one of the hand towels hanging on the wall, buried his face in it, and inhaled deeply.  Of course it smelled like Ruki.  The smell of the soaps and cologne he used filled the blonde’s lungs.  “You’re not doing weird things in there are you?”  Ruki yelled from the living room.

            “N-No I’m not!  Just…checking every place thoroughly!”  Takeru retorted back as he blushed once again, clumsily returning the towel to its rack.  He abandoned the bathroom not having found the glasses, and moved to the bedroom.  It was a little small, but didn’t feel cramped.  He went over to the bed to start investigating the nightstand.  It would have been easy to fall behind the stand since there was a small space between it and the wall.  Takeru reached his hand down the space hoping to feel a pair of glasses.  Alas, there was nothing.  He then reached for the front drawer.  ‘Maybe Ruki-kun put them in here and forgot.’  He thought as he tugged the drawer open.

            “Oi!  Don’t go through that drawer!  It’s not for little kids.”  Ruki quickly strode towards the blonde, but he couldn’t see the box of shoes on the floor in front of him and tripped over it.  Takeru instinctively put his arms out to catch the brunette that came stumbling towards him; but instead of catching him they both toppled over.  Luckily the bed caught their fall.  With the commotion over, Takeru realized they were tangled together.  Ruki was on top of him and his face was too close.   Takeru’s heart started doing jumping jacks in his chest.  “Damn that hurt.  Huh?”  Ruki stretched his arm past the head of blonde hair and rummaged between the pillows.  “My glasses!  Guess I fell asleep with them on my head.  You’re on a roll today pup!”  He put his glasses on not bothering to move at all.

            “N-No problem.”  Ruki stared seriously at the blonde now that he could see.  Takeru could feel his face turning deeper shades of red as he continued to stare.  Suddenly that queen sized bed felt like a twin size.  Before he could say anything to break the tension, Ruki closed the small space between them with a kiss.  This kiss was different.  It wasn’t frantic and desperate like the night he was against the door.  Ruki was taking his time, gently sliding his tongue past the blonde’s lips.  He felt like he was under water and almost out of air.  He ventured a glance at Ruki, who didn’t look even close to being winded.  “PWAH!”  Takeru broke away from the kiss to concentrate on breathing for a moment.  Ruki looked down at him with a mischievous smile on his face.  He began kissing the blonde’s neck.  “Mmmmm” A tiny moan escaped from Takeru, eliciting a small chuckle from Ruki.  He continued his way down pushing up the blonde’s shirt and lightly pecking his chest.  Takeru took in a deep breath trying to keep control of himself.  It was a futile attempt as the kisses trailed even lower stopping at his navel.  While Ruki continued kissing his stomach, Takeru didn’t even notice his jeans were being ped.  It wasn’t until the brunette tugged his jeans down that Takeru knew what was coming next.  “Uh-uhm…wait!”  Takeru didn’t really want him to stop; he just wasn’t expecting Ruki to go so far so soon.

            “Just relax.  I can tell how much you want this.”  His hands were on the elastic waist band of the blonde’s boxer-briefs.  Takeru used his arms to cover his red face as Ruki pulled the last barrier down.  “See, you’re always excited…like a puppy.”

            “Please stop calling me a pup…!”  His words were cut off by the surprise of Ruki touching his shaft.

            “When you stop acting like a puppy, I’ll stop calling you one.”  That same mischievous smile returned.  “Now, like I said, relax.  Stop tensing up.” 

            ‘How can I relax!?’  Takeru thought.  It was hard enough remembering his own name as the rhythmic began.  “Ha…ah…”  tones he’d never made before kept escaping.  He was starting to get dizzy as the steady sped up.  Ruki came up to nibble the blonde’s ear while his hand kept going.  “Hnnn!”

            “I can tell you’re close to .”  He warmly whispered in his ear.  “Tell me what you want me to do.”  He couldn’t see it, but Takeru knew Ruki was smiling as he said that.

            “That’s…too em-embarrassing.”  He managed to say in between breaths.  “Ah!”  The blonde’s eyes shot open as the came to a sudden stop.  Ruki was propped up on his free hand staring down at Takeru.  His thumb was placed on the opening of the blonde’s shaft.  “Please, don’t…”

            “Don’t what?”

            “Don’t…stop.”  It was surprising how quickly ecstasy could turn into torture.  Takeru writhed underneath Ruki.

            “You have to tell me what you want.  It’s the only way to continue.”

            ‘Why do I like him so much?’ Takeru wondered.  ‘He really is a sadist to tease me like this.  I don’t know how much longer I can take this.’  Mustering up all the courage he had, Takeru mumbled something.  “Ah...mmmm…P-"  Ruki lightly squeezed harder on his shaft.

           “Huh?  What was that pup?”  Takeru was blushing so hard his entire face was bright red.  He covered his mouth, too embarrassed to say anything more.  “You’ve gotta move that hand if you want me to hear you.”  Ruki, now straddling Takeru, pulled the blonde’s hand away from his face, pinning it beside his head.  With nothing to hide his face the blonde spoke rapidly at once.

            “Please make me !”  With that, Ruki resumed his shaft rapidly.  He chuckled as he watched the blonde’s embarrassment being replaced by pleasure.  The dizziness returned to Takeru as his breaths came out harder.  Throwing his arms around Ruki’s neck, he tangled his fingers in the brunette strands of hair.  Suddenly his mind went blank and his body went limp.

            “Good boy.  I may get you trained yet.”  Ruki swiftly rolled off the bed heading into the bathroom.  Takeru laid, not moving, trying to catch his breath, his mind trying to come back to reality.  “Here.”  Ruki tossed a towel on Takeru.  “Why don’t you clean yourself up and then help me straighten this place up.”  Wondering what he meant, Takeru sat up.  That’s when he noticed a warm liquid dripping down him stomach.  He quickly used the towel to wipe everything off.  With most of his senses returning to him, Takeru sat and thought over what just transpired.  If his pants and boxers hadn’t been around his ankles he would have believed it was all a dream.  He quickly pulled both articles of clothing back up while blushing at the memory.  It was at that same time when his eyes fell on the nightstand drawer still open just a crack.  Curiosity struck.  Glancing towards the door and back, he pulled the drawer the rest of the way out.  To his hilarious surprise the drawer was filled with nothing but related things.  Lubes, condoms, and…toys.

            ‘No wonder he didn’t want me to look in here.’

            “Hey pup, c’mon.  I need some help out here.”  Ruki froze as he returned to the room finding Takeru reading a bottle of lube.

            “What exactly is ‘Tingling Gel’?  What does it do?”

            “Didn’t I say that drawer isn’t for kids?!”  Ruki crossed his arms.

            “Are you actually embarrassed?”

            “I said that because I didn’t want some kid getting too excited for nothing.  I wouldn’t go that far with you to be using anything in that drawer.”  Takeru threw the lube into the drawer and slammed it shut.

            “But what about…just now?!  What you just did.”

            “That was a simple .  And that was just a reward for finding my glasses.  You should never expect me to go any farther than that with you.”  The blonde shot up from the bed storming past Ruki.  As he quickly strode through the living room he grabbed his bag, heading straight for the door.  He paused looking back.  Ruki hadn’t followed him, not even to ask where he was going.

            “BAKA!”  Takeru yelled slamming the door behind him.  Ruki lazily wandered into the living room once it was quiet again.  He watched Koron pawing at the front door.

            ‘Sorry Girl.’  He thought.  With a sigh he shuffled back to the bedroom to continue cleaning.

*                                  *                                  *

            Slamming his bag down, Takeru plopped down into a leather chair.  He huffed crossing his arms.  ‘Why?’ He thought.  ‘Why does he make it all so difficult?’  Sighing, he looked at his bag remembering he did have an assignment to do.

            “Oh! Takeru-chan!”  Looking up, Shou was standing behind the chair with a tray in his hands.  “It’s been a while since you were here last.  Almost thought I wouldn’t see you again.”

            “Oh, sorry Manager Shou.  I’ve been…busy lately.”

            “Ahh same here.  Would you like something to drink?  Stay a while so we can chat when it slows.  Chiyu-kun missed you too.”

            “Sure, I’ll have a pomegranate tea if you have it.  And I’ve got some homework to do, so I’ll be here a bit.”  With a smile Shou went back behind the counter to start making drinks.  Takeru caught a glimpse of Chiyu running from table to table working his hardest.  It really had been a while since he was at the café.  Chiyu’s hair looked a bit longer.  Remembering his own words, Takeru took out a large sketch pad from his bag.  Setting it on the table in front of him he rummaged through his bag for a pencil case, and another case for just his colored pencils.  Once locating both cases he picked up the sketch pad, opened it, and positioned it on the arm rest of his chair.  His assignment was to create no less than 5 original designs that all represented the current season; early winter.  He already had some ideas, but whether or not they would work together was the question.  On his blank page Takeru used a sharpie to draw a simple, faceless paper model.

            Shou quietly set the cup of tea down on the table.  He only took a couple of seconds to admire Takeru hard at work before returning to the counter.  Completely unaware of Shou’s presence Takeru worked on.  After a couple minutes he paused smelling the light aroma of the tea.  He wanted to thank Shou but saw he was still busy helping other customers.  He reached forward grabbing the cup with both hands.  Taking a deep breath of the tea in, he let it warms his hands first before taking a sip.  Once he did the warm liquid spread warmth throughout his entire body.  ‘Still not as warm as when Ruki-san was…’  His mind flashed back to Ruki’s bedroom.  ‘Ah!  What am I thinking!?’  He thought with a blush.  Takeru placed the cup down, leaned back in the chair, and returned to his assignment.

            Takeru worked for about an hour managing to finish 2/5 designs.  As he started on the third design he felt there was someone behind him.  Assuming it was just Shou or Chiyu, he didn’t bother looking.

            “Wow!  Those are really good!”  Alarmed that an unknown voice was spoken right behind him, Takeru stopped and whipped his head back to see who was there.  To his surprise a man, with hair as blonde as his, stood there looking at every inch of his sketches.  He inched closer when Takeru said nothing.  “I would say these are of a professional level.  Are you independent?  Working under someone else?  I don’t recognize your work so you must be fairly new still.” 

            “Ummm…I’m only a freshman in college.”  Takeru blushed slightly in response to the string of questions.  His friends always praise his work, but strangers rarely did.

            “Eh?  Really?  You’ve got quite some talent.  I can’t wait to see where you will go once you graduate.  If you’d like me to put in a good word for you I will.”

            “Oh…wow, thanks.  Not to be rude, but who are you?”

            “Ha ha, sorry.  I have a habit of getting carried away.  My name is Hiroto.  You can call me Hiro-san though.”

            “Nice to meet you Hiro-san.”  Both of them shook hands.  “So…you said you could put in a good word for me?  Where exactly?  What do you do for a living?”  Takeru took a sip of his tea again focused on Hiroto.

            “Oh right!  I’m a professional photographer.  I like to take pictures more of landscapes and scenery, but I photograph mostly models for a stable income.”  Takeru choked and almost spit his tea everywhere.

            “Eh!  Are you that Hiro-san?!  I’ve seen a lot of your photos!  They way you shoot the models is just perfect!  It always compliments both the model and the clothes!”  He was excitedly bouncing in his seat as he spoke.  It was the chance meeting of a lifetime for him.

            “Ahh thank you.  Here…”  He handed Takeru a business card.  “It has my personal number on there.  I’d like to keep in contact with you.  These drawings really are something.”

            “Oh thank you!  It’s an honor!  My name is Takeru by the way.”

            “Takeru huh?  Can I call you Takeru-chan?”

            “Yes that’s fine.  Almost everyone uses chan for me, I’m used to it.”

            “I’ll remember your name.  Man…I know just the model that would look perfect wearing these designs.”

            “Who!?”  Takeru was leaning in a bit closer in anticipation.

            “That model everyone refers to as Hana.  The one who is as pretty as flowers.  He’s really popular right now.”  All the color drained from Takeru's face.  “I don’t know him personally, haven’t worked with him at all.  That name is a bit…weird too.”  Hiroto tilted his head to the side as he thought of it.  That’s when he noticed the look on Takeru's face.  “Takeru-chan?”

            “…ga”

            “Ehh?”

            “His real name…is Saga-san.”  Takeru said with barely any volume to his voice.

            “You…know him?”

            “Yes…we went to high school together.”  Hiroto didn’t miss the forced quality of the smile Takeru wore.

            “You ok Takeru-chan?”  The smile was beginning to falter.

            “Keru-kun!”  Chiyus voice cut in drawing both of their attention.  “It’s been a while since I last saw you.  You’re always busy lately.  You were waiting for me today right?”

            “Uhnn…”  Takeru nodded looking a little dazed and confused.

            “Sorry okyaku-sama but I will be stealing him now.”  Chiyu said as he picked up Takeru's things and pulled him away.

            “Uh…wait…”

            “I wouldn’t go after him.  Chi-kun is quite a protective parent.”  Hiroto glanced to his other side to find a dark chocolate brunette sitting next to him.  A sweet smile that reached his eyes adorned his face.  Hiroto wasn’t fooled.  There was nothing sweet about his smile; it actually sent shivers up his spine.  What was most surprising was that he managed to sit down without notice.

            “Who are you?  And where did that waiter take Takeru-chan?”  The brunette scooted closer.

            “I am the owner of this establishment.  That waiter is a close friend of Takeru-chan.  And what did you say to put that look on his face?”  His eyes narrowed slightly at Hiroto.

            “I didn’t say anything mean!  I was complimenting his art.  Really!”

“Oh, is that really all you said?”

            “Yes.  Honest!”

            “I suppose I won’t let you see the life stream today.  May I offer you something to drink then?”  Hiroto stared at the café owner who still wore the same smile.  He had no idea what to say at this point.  “Hmmm?”  The owner then leaned even closer to Hiroto.  His face came so close that Hiroto had to lean backwards so their foreheads didn’t touch.  “Now that I look at you, you’ve got a handsome face.”

            “And you have a very scary face.”

            “Ha ha ha!  I can tell you and I…are going to be good ‘friends.’”  Hiroto didn’t like the way he said ‘friends.’  But oddly he couldn’t move away.  Something about the café owner really grabbed his attention.

            “Umm…I guess I’ll order some coffee then.  I’m waiting for my assistant to get here.”  Then there was something in the dark brunette’s eyes that caught his attention more.  “Wait!”  The café owner stopped from heading to the counter.  “This is…gonna sound a little strange but…could I take some photos of you next time?”  That creepy smile seemed to grow bigger.

            “Of course.  Next time.”

*                                  *                                  *

            Takeru glanced over his shoulder at Shou talking to Hiroto as Chiyu led him back to the break room.  It was a small cozy room with a table, chairs, counters, and refrigerator.  Chiyu set Takeru’s things on the table and sat Takeru down in one of the wooden chairs.

            “Man is that guy gonna get it.  Did you see Shou-kuns face?  That is the face of a true demon.”  Chiyu was rambling on as he was at the counters filling a glass with water.  “Here drink this.”  He set the glass in front of Takeru.  “I need to get back out there, see if Shou-kun needs some help.”

            “Chi-chan wait!”  He looked at Takeru’s alarmed face.  “Hiro-san didn’t do anything!  We were just talking.”

            “Then what’s with the face and the way you’re acting?”  Takeru hung his head down avoiding eye contact.  Chiyu pulled out another wooden chair and sat directly in front of Takeru.  “What did he say to you?  C’mon Keru-kun…you can tell me.”  Takeru took in a shaky breath.

            “We were talking about clothes and modeling.  He liked my designs.  And then…”

            “Then what?”

            “He mentioned…Saga-san.”

            “Oh boy…”  Chiyu let out a sigh as he slouched in his chair a bit.  “Keru-kun, aren’t you dating someone now?  You should be over that bastard.  Don’t let just his name affect you this much.”

            “But...I thought I was.  My heart won’t slow down whenever I’m with Ruki-san,”  He put his hand over his heart.  “but just hearing his name now made it hurt so badly.”  He clenched the fabric of his shirt tightly.  “I don’t understand it Chi-chan, I’m so confused.”  He was on the verge of tears.

            “Ah!  Sorry Keru-kun.  Maybe it’s my fault for assuming a new relationship would make you forget.  It will probably take some time to let this new relationship heal your wounds.  Have you talked to Ruki-san about that bastard?”

            “Um…no.  I never even thought about it until now.  But that’s not the problem Chi-chan.”  Both of his arms wrapped around his waist.  “My goal…my dream.  Don’t you remember?  The reason why I’m still pushing forward so hard?  It was so I could get him back.  So then, why do I have these feelings for Ruki-san?  Why am I so excited by just the thought of him?  Why did I so readily decide to date him?!”  Takeru was gradually getting louder.

            “Calm down Keru-Kun!”  Chiyu placed his hands on Takeru’s shoulders.  “Unfortunately I can’t give you any answers.  But, as much as I hate to suggest it, maybe you need to go see that bastard again.”  Takeru’s eyes were as big as dinner plates and filled with a nervous fear when Chiyu said that.  “Maybe if you see him again, you can confirm if you still have any feelings towards him.  See if they’ve changed at all.”  Takeru stared at the wall behind Chiyu thinking about that suggestion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally!  All of Chapter 4 in it's complete-ness!!!  Sorry that seemed to take so long, but I got it up for the weekend.  Ch5 may take a while to appear.....I've only got roughly 2 pages of it writen.  Plus I'm giving some attention to a one-shot that has been long since over due for typing up and posting.  But I will keep working on Ch5 when I get the time and inspiration.  Hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well!!!