Gift fic for natsudive
Gift fic for: natsudive
From: newsficcon
Title: All The Wrong Places (looking for love)
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Ryo/Shige, Yamapi/Shige.
Warnings: AU, glossed-over sexytimes, butchered demonology and language.
Summary: Shige dreams, Yamapi meddles and Ryo grows suspicious.
Notes: for natsudive! I was really excited when I got you as my assignment because we both like the same paring. I’ve had so much fun with coming up with this idea. Not so much fun writing it but I hope you’ll enjoy it! ♥ Big thanks to R and D for wonderful beta, guidance and helpful suggestions.
It’d been three weeks. Three weeks since he first had this…dream. Or nightmare. Shige had no idea what to call them anyway. They weren’t dreams, not the usual kind, not with the way they made him feel. It’s as though he was both asleep and awake, he could feel every dreamed clever touch, every light caress. Dreamed hands brushing along inch of his body, leaving him moaning and begging for more. Even through the haze of sleep, he could hear himself - hear those pitiful noises escaping from his mouth.
But then those touches weren’t teasing and light anymore. They gradually turned into a combination of pleasure and pain. Mixed in with something that he never felt before. The dreams had him tossing, sweating, griping his sheets and even, true-to-god coming in his slumber. Something Shige believed only existed in trashy erotic novels.
Shige wasn’t stupid; he damn well knew that what was happening to him couldn’t be considered a common thing. So he went to see a doctor. Not because he really wanted to get rid of the dreams (because, to be quite honest he enjoyed them) but because it was the right thing to do. He figured he had to do something in a situation like this.
He told the doctor as much as he could skipping the embarrassing details. Doctor’s diagnosis? Stress. Shige almost rolled his eyes. He should’ve expected this; it’s always the fucking stress. But Shige wasn’t under any stress. Contrary to the popular belief of his office coworkers and family, he didn’t freak out over every little thing and work had been slow for some time already. He didn’t tell the doctor this of course. He took his prescription and left with quick thank you.
The pills doctor prescribed didn’t help much at all. The weird thing? Shige was totally okay with that. He was more than glad that he still had those dreams, even though they tended to leave him so horribly exhausted and unfocused that he couldn’t do his work properly. He realized he shouldn’t think that way. But, with somewhat of a heavy hearts, Shige finally admitted to himself that he didn’t really care.
He would take the dreams. He couldn’t have it in real life anyway.
***
Shige was fine with things as they were but that didn’t cloud his common sense completely. He was curious about what was actually going on and what it exactly meant. So, he researched. He didn’t really have time (and patience) to go to the library, and he didn’t really know where to even begin, so he used the internet. His company was pretty lenient when it came to using internet during work hours so checked at the office in between work. He could do it at home, sure but to be perfectly honest he would much go home than spending his time researching and wasting time being awake.
As expected, he didn’t find much. The Japanese websites weren’t too rich in information. He figured English ones would be more helpful but unfortunately he didn’t understand much of what was written there (English wasn’t one of his strong feat, okay?). Though maybe , on the other hand, it was a good thing that he couldn’t any solid information. The shreds of information he did understand, assuming they were real (and somehow he had no problem believing they were), should scare the living crap out of him.
He was so lost in digesting all this information in that he didn’t notice someone walking up behind him until there was a warm hand resting on his shoulder and sharp voice cutting through his thoughts.
“Kato.”
Shige jumped slightly in his seat at the unexpected touch and turned around to see Nishikido who offered a small smile in apology and quickly retracted his hand.
“What are you still doing here? Everyone else left already, “ Nishikido said.
Shige looked around the office. He really didn’t know how he missed that. “Ah, sorry.” He looked up at Nishikido with a sheepish smile, “I guess I must have zoned out.”
“I can see that,” he laughed. “And I really hope it’s not porn you’ve been staring at so intently. The IT nerds would have your head if you gave your computer some internet STDs, you know?” Ryo grinned when Kato flushed at the insinuation. “Come on, let’s go,” he said and made his way to the elevators without waiting.
Shige nodded at the back of Nishikido’s head, even though the other couldn’t see it and gathered his things. He turned off the computer and followed quickly, not wanting to look like an even bigger moron by being sluggish on a top off it all.
Nishikido waited for Shige to get into the elevator before pushing ground-level button and leaned back against the metal wall, “So,” Nishikido started when the door closed. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, any exciting plans?”
Shige turned to look at Nishikido and shrugged his shoulders. “Why?”
“Matsumoto’s throwing another party,” he explained. “You should come,” he suggested with a smile and eyes that have no right to be so bright for this time of the day. “It’d be fun.”
“If by fun you mean another picture of me with Jigglypuff doodles on my face circulating around the office again then no, thank you.” Shige cringed at the memory; it had taken him two days to clean the freaking doodles off. Good thing it had been weekend.
“Well, you shouldn’t have passed out on bathroom floor.”
Well, you shouldn’t have left me there in the first place Shige thought bitterly. He won’t say it though because Nishikido didn’t remember anyway. He had been just as plastered as him that night. “Believe me, if I had known Tegoshi was carrying permanent markers with him, I wouldn’t have,” he grumbled and scratched at the side of his face where the drawing used to be.
The elevator beeped its arrival at the ground floor. “You need to admit, though,” Nishikido chuckled, getting off and making his way out of the building into the parking lot, “it was pretty hilarious.”
“I guess it was,” he agreed and followed Nishikido outside.
As expected the parking lot was pretty much deserted expect for a few cars; his and Nishikido’s were parked next to each other . They silently made their way toward the cars and Shige was thankful for that, he didn’t feel like making pointless conversation.
Shige opened the driver’s door and was about to get into the car when he stole a final glance at Nishikido. The other man was leaning against his own car, looking at him expectantly, obviously waiting for the answer.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Shige apologized in what was probably the most unconvincing way in history. “I have plans already.”
It seemed to be good enough for Nishikido. “As always, you’re zero fun Kato.”
“Guilty as charged,” he sighed in fake defeat. He cast a quick glance at Nishikido. “See you on Monday, Nishikido-kun.” And with that he got into the car and drove off.
*
Ryo waited until Kato’s car disappeared into the busy street before he heaved a heavy sigh and got into his own, heading off in the other direction.
He really hoped that Kato would come to the party and maybe, just maybe, if he played his cards right and Kato wouldn’t pass out halfway through, that there would be a continuation, or at least a repeat, of last time. It was now over that two months ago since that night when he had found Kato dead drunk and half asleep in the bathroom (the drunk idiot had forgotten to lock the door) but Ryo could still remember it like it was yesterday.
It was really hard to forget. All he had wanted to do was to put Kato somewhere else where he would be able to sober up, but instead he ended up with a handful of warm body, wet lips on his and persistent tongue in his mouth trying to suck the air out of him. To say that Ryo was shocked would have been the understatement of the year, not because he never pegged Kato to be a slutty drunk but because it was him on the receiving end of this onslaught . Incredibly hot onslaught, if he might add.
Ryo didn’t have much time to analyze why it was happening, not when he had Kato’s hands cupping his ass pulling him closer and his ankle hooked tightly around Ryo’s, like he was afraid Ryo might stop and leave. And if Ryo wasn’t busy with kissing Kato back as fiercely as Kato was kissing him he might have told him not to be an idiot and that he didn’t plan on going anywhere. Not when he was finally doing what he had wanted to ever since he started to work at the Tokyo branch. Like a year ago.
So, yes, it was safe to say that Ryo was more than happy with the current situation. With Ryo’s new-found enthusiasm his mouth became more demanding and his hands gripped front of Kato’s shirt. Kato must have felt the way his mood shifted as well, because the hands that were kneading Ryo’s ass moved to clumsily fumble with the front of his pants and soon enough Kato was cupping him through the material of his underwear. Ryo groaned at the bold touch and broke the kiss. He latched his lips to Kato’s neck instead and nipped and bit at the skin there.
That’s when things went downhill; Kato’s hands stilled, his forehead fell on Ryo’s shoulder and all Ryo could hear in the tiny room, besides his own heavy breathing, was Kato snoring (it wasn’t even cute snore, either). The idiot had passed out. Ryo would have laughed at the hilarity of the situation if he wasn’t uncomfortably hard and was supporting the deadweight of his unconscious colleague.
He wasn’t proud of what he did afterward because leaving Kato on the bathroom floor was a pretty shitty thing to do, but he was too drunk himself to care about that. He took a bit of comfort by putting a folded a towel under Kato’s head before he went his merry way. He ended up hooking up with some girl from the party but even when they were fucking he could still taste Kato on his lips.
Ever since that night, Ryo had started to pay more attention to Kato; the way he carried himself at work, the way he joked and laughed with people. And what had started out as a little, harmless infatuation slowly turned into something else that Ryo felt too cowardly to pursue.
And judging by the fact that Kato behaved around him as he always did and didn’t acknowledge what had happened that night (Ryo was sure he didn’t remember) Ryo didn’t think he ever could.
*
Shige was a rather a modest guy but he would be first to admit that he deserved a freaking Oscar for all this acting he was pulling off around Nishikido. It was easy, usually. They didn’t work together that much. Ever since Nishikido was transferred (and promoted) from the Osaka branch, he had been mainly handling the supervising position and that didn’t require much one-on-one interaction besides occasional briefings and once a month employee evaluations.
Still, sometimes Nishikido would venture out of his private office and stop by at each cubicle to offer some advice, praise for job well done or to joke a little with the employees. He was also impeccably professional and competent. No wonder he was everyone’s favourite boss ever to grace this floor; Shige’s was pretty sure, though, that his own favouritism went further and in the other direction than those of his male colleagues.
Nishikido was smoking hot, with his sharp eyes, messy hair and bright (if slightly psychotic) smile. One would have to be blind or without the taste to miss that. And, because Shige was neither, he embarrassingly quickly developed a crush. Which, when Shige thought about it, wasn’t so strange after all. Imagine being a five on the Kinsey’s scale and working in a room full of ordinary looking men (Tegoshi didn’t count). And then enter new, completely extraordinarily looking boss. Shige had never stood a chance.
He also blamed the demands of being an adult, because when one works as much as Shige does, free time was rare to come by and when it did, Shige simply didn’t have strength to go out and meet new people. Maintaining the friendships he had was hard enough already. Or hypothetical relationships for that matter; the last one he had lasted for two months and that was a year and a half ago. And it had consequently left him horny, hungry for affection and perhaps a little bit desperate. Having an office romance seemed like a win-win situation to Shige.
So, it’s a combination of all of this and his inebriated state that had led to what in Matsumoto-san’s bathroom that night, during the party that Tegoshi dragged him to. Even though he had drunk quite a bit and blacked out for a while, he still remembered how he practically attacked the other man, when all Nishikido wanted to do was to help him out of the bathroom.
He would have preferred that he hadn’t remembered but Shige always tended to remember every detail of his drunken excursions, no matter how much he drank. It sucked because he couldn’t have real fun without a major guilt-trip next morning.
That night he had been woken up by the sound of camera flash going off and Tegoshi’s poorly concealed giggles. He didn’t know what he expected but for sure it hadn’t been waking up on freaking bathroom floor. Well, obviously Nishikido was pissed at him about what happened because otherwise wouldn’t have left him there. Shige had been pretty bummed but decided that he could at least attempt apologizing to Nishikido. He still was drunk; he figured it would be easier in his alcohol-induced state so the embarrassment he would have felt if he had done it sober would be practically nonexistent.
But Shige had quickly noticed that Nishikido didn’t need any apologizing to. The girl he was sucking face with was certainly doing her best to help him forget. Haruko? Harumi? Shige was sure that they had been introduced to each other earlier but that was back when he still was still sober and living in his ‘I Pretend I Care About You and Your Life Land’.
What shocked Shige the most about the whole thing was how disappointed he felt that moment. Disappointment indicated that he actually cared and judging by the strength of his current feelings he actually cared an awful lot. On one hand, it had been to be expected, he had heard stories, after all, about Nishikido being a little bit of a man-whore (and it didn’t really surprise him, with a face like that it’s understandable that it’s takes him minimal effort to get lucky) but the speed was still rather astonishing. And didn’t Shige just do the same thing, anyway?
He vaguely remembered Tegoshi taking him home and going on and on how an awesome friend he was, and then bitching at him that because of his drunk ass he had blown off some pretty blond foreign girl to make sure that Shige arrived safely and that for this selfless act he should be rewarded with backrubs and bentos for the whole week.
Needless to say, since Nishikido didn’t seem interested in any apologies, Shige kept his mouth shut and continued to pull off even better acting than he did for his parents when he was eighteen and came back home drunk.
*
"So, you finally figured it out," a voice said as a hand skimmed across his brow. Shige leaned into the touch, and the voice said again, "I knew you would, Shigeaki." It was proud and serene, making Shige feel as if he could curl those words around him and be safe. Smooth hands brushed across his bare shoulders, and Shige made a noise of contentment low in his throat as he allowed himself to relax into the sheets, cool against his back.
“Shige,” he murmured. “Shigeaki is what my parents call me.”
“Hmm,” the voice hummed, amused. “Anything else?”
Drowsing still, he opened his eyes a crack, and there above him, for the first time ever, he saw a figure, silhouetted in the darkness and surrounding him with thick feathers. "I want to see you,” he murmured as he sank into the pillows, allowing his eyes to slip shut once more.
*
Three days later, Shige did.
When he opened the door to soft knocking he immediately knew this was It.
The man before him greeted Shige with a little, shy smile and gentle eyes. He had muscles and curves where Nishikido had slopes and angles.
Shige smiled back; he couldn't have been more pleased.
*
As It didn’t have a name, they decided Shige would call It after the body he was wearing: Yamashita Tomohisa - that’s what the discharge papers said. Shige tried not to dwell on the fact that this is some person’s body but It - Yamashita - kept reassuring him that it was okay. The real Yamashita suffered from a surfing accident and was already brain-dead when It found him lying comatose in the hospital, the doctors only moments away from pulling out the plug. And when It saw him, It thought that it would be completely wrong to let such a pretty body go to waste. The doctors called it a miracle, wanted to keep Yamashita longer for observation and such but with It now inside Yamashita body charmed his way out easily.
Being together with Yamashita was completely different than what Shige expected. He imagined fear and terror and other dreadful and appalling things, but in all honesty it was just simply fantastic. The sex was out of this world but that was no surprise, seeing as Yamashita was out of this world himself. But there was more to it than that.
Despite Yamashita’s demonic nature he actually had really gentle and caring personality. He took care of Shige like no one had in a long time. Yamashita made sure that he had at least one warm meal a day (though he was rather a lousy cook), kept the apartment tidy while Shige was at work, washed his hair for him when Shige felt particularly lazy or had a bad day. What Shige probably enjoyed the most was that Yamashita seemed genuinely interested in Shige’s life, making idle talk and asking all those silly and pointless little questions that couldn’t possibly interest him but he claimed he wanted to hear about anyway.
A couple of times Shige tried asking Yamashita about his life…or un-life. But every time Yamashita found a way, usually with his hands or mouth, to distract him so that Shige was unable to form anything resembling an intelligible sentence, let alone remember what he’d asked in the first place. Yamashita was dead-set on not telling Shige anything, so eventually he stopped trying.
Even with this little drawback that Shige soon got over, to Shige it seemed like Yamashita’s whole existence revolved around him. And even though it probably didn’t, it still made him feel like he mattered to someone. So, it was really hard to care about the wrongness of it or anything else for that matter when it made Shige feel happier than he had in years.
*
When Shige turned up for work the first thing he saw was a yellow post-it stuck to his computer screen saying Come see me during the lunch break, Nishikido. Shige’s stomach twisted unpleasantly and he slumped in his chair. He suspected what Nishikido wanted to discuss and Shige didn’t feel like talking about it with anyone. But even he, himself noticed decrease in his work performance and if he were in Nishikido’s place he would have fired his ass long ago.
With this very unpleasant possibility hanging above his head, and with new found vigour, Shige started to work, hoping that he could somehow make up for his recent incompetence so that his boss would see that he did care about this job.
*
Ryo was just finishing his lunch when soft knocking reached his ears and Kato’s head popped in.
“You wanted to see me?”
Ryo nodded, swallowing the rest of his food. “Yeah, sit down,” he gestured to the chair in front of his desk. As Kato closed the door and made his way toward the chair, Ryo assessed him carefully.
Kato’s clothes were askew, his hair messed and if Ryo were to check he was sure that Kato’s socks were mismatched as well. It was apparent that he had left for work in a hurry today; Ryo frowned.
“Rough day?
Kato relaxed into the seat. “Kind of.”
“You seem to have a lot of those, lately.” Ryo sighed.
He stood up from his seat, made his way around the desk and sat on the worktop; Ryo figured it’d make this whole talk more informal.
“Listen, Kato,” he started and crossed his arms across his chest. “Ever since I took over this department you’ve been a really good employee, one of the best I’ve worked with, actually. Punctual, focused, dedicated to work and so on, but as of late-”
Kato tensed up. “Am I fired?”
“Do you want to be?” Ryo asked with a roll of his eyes.
“No, of course not.”
“Then shut up and let me finish,” Ryo snapped. “You’re way behind with your work but since I’m such a great person, I’ve already talked with Tegoshi and he agreed to help you out. He will take over your work and I’ll assign you something else. Fresh start.”
Kato was listening intently and didn’t interrupt so Ryo continued.
“Also, I think it’ll be a good idea for you to stay after when you can until you can catch up and return to the hardworking person I know you can be,” he suggested. “What do you think, sounds fair?”
“Yes. Thank you,” Kato agreed enthusiastically and Ryo was happy to note that he wasn’t as tense as before. “I really apologize for the trouble I’ve caused. I will work hard from now on.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied with a grin. “Anyway, here,” he reached behind and grabbed a file folder to give to Kato. “This is your new assignment. You better not screw up.”
Ryo hadn’t notice it before, not with the way Kato was awkwardly keeping his hands folded on his lap during the talk, but when Kato reached his arm for the file, the his shirt sleeve ridden up to reveal angry looking bruise spoiling the skin on Kato’s wrist. He reacted before he could even give it a thought and swiftly gripped the other’s man wrist, causing the file to fall on the floor, papers scattering out across their feet.
“What the hell is this?” he asked heatedly, his hard gaze boring into the blemish and then switching to Kato’s aghast face. “Well?” he demanded.
Kato didn’t reply, sprung up from his seat and tried to break away from Ryo’s grip but the more fiercely he struggled the stronger Ryo held on. His other hand found Kato’s shoulder, twisting the fabric there and pushed him back down to the seat to keep him in place. The material he gripped rode down to bare even more bruised skin on the side of Kato’s neck.
The cause of them is pretty clear now and Ryo would have laughed if he hadn’t been so inexplicably angry at Kato who, evidently, was able to enjoy himself without Ryo’s involvement.
“I see you also had a rough night.” He smirked mockingly and leaned in so that their faces were millimeters from each other. Kato turned his face in an attempt to put some distance between them, but it only angered Ryo even more. “I didn’t peg you as the type, Shige.”
Ryo never called Kato by his first name, not outside his bedroom at least, and it took him by surprise as much as it did Kato. He turned his head sharply to look at Ryo; Ryo could see a slight blush decorating his cheeks but his eyes were anything but embarrassed. Kato’s gaze was hard and intense and that threw Ryo a little off.
It was Kato’s turn to smirk now. “You have no idea,” he breathed.
Kato wrongly assumed that this will settle the whole exchange and would make Ryo let him go but he clearly underestimated Ryo’s inability to remain coolheaded in situations like this.
It was like that time in the bathroom only now it was Ryo who crushed his lips against Kato’s and it was Kato who let out a surprised moan. A moan which Ryo mistook for a sign of approval and let go of Kato’s wrist. He brought his hand to the back of Kato’s neck to bring him closer and deepen the kiss. Kato placed his palms on Ryo’s chest and in a span of seconds Ryo was flying back, and colliding with the edge of his desk. He hissed in pain at the impact.
That’s not how this was supposed to go, he thought and looked at Kato with bewildered eyes. The other man jumped up from the seat, red in the face, breathing heavily, his posture tense and straight as an arrow. He was looking at him with a similar expression, though his was probably more confused than Ryo’s.
Kato’s lips were gaping like a fish out of water and no words were coming out. Ryo straightened up and cleared his throat, tried to say something, say anything but whatever he was about to say, Kato wasn’t interested in hearing. He turned on his feet and stormed out, closing the door behind him unceremoniously, leaving Ryo alone in his office.
Ryo let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed at his sore back-bone. He returned to his seat and ran his hand through his hair. At this moment, he really hoped he won’t be getting sued for sexual harassment.
*
“You’re early today,” Yamashita commented when Shige came back home earlier than he usually did. He rose from where he was laying on the couch, watching TV and slowly made his way towards Shige. He cupped Shige’s face with his palm and gave him worried look. “Did something happen?”
Shige closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. “Nothing I want to talk about,” he replied with a sigh, wrapped his hand around Yamashita’s wrist and squeezed for emphasis.
“Shige,” Yamashita said pointedly. “Is it about this Nishikido person?”
“How-” Shige’s eyes snapped open. Yamashita had no way to know what had happened, unless he...Shige frowned. ”Please, don’t do that,” he said sharply. “I asked you not to read my mind.”
Yamashita hand untwisted from Shige’s hold, his other joining in to wrap around Shige’s waist, bringing him closer.
“I can’t help it when you won’t tell me anything,” he admitted and rested his cheek on Shige’s shoulder; Shige returned the hug. “And I need to know what you think if I want to make you feel good.”
“There are other ways to make me feel good that don’t require reading my mind.” His hands slowly sneaked under Yamashita’s t-shirt and grazed the soft skin of Yamashita’s back purposefully.
“Let’s go to bed.”
“Not today, Shige.” Yamashita reached behind to stop Shige’s wandering hands. He looked at Shige with concerned gaze. “You need to rest. I can see I’m wearing you down.”
“But...Aren’t you weak?” Shige replied, disappointment evident in his voice. Shige didn’t care that right now he sounded really pathetic, he could be as whiny as he liked around Yamashita. “I don’t mind. Really.”
He cupped Shige’s face with his hands and smiled fondly. “Don’t worry, I’ll survive without feeding for one night.”
Shige nodded, resigned. “Okay.”
“Go take a bath and I’ll fix you something to eat.”
“You can join me if you want.” Shige said, teasingly.
But Yamashita only ruffled his Shige’s hair in response and disappeared into the kitchen.
*
Luckily, Ryo didn’t get sued but that was maybe because he made sure not to remind Kato of his existence and avoid him as much as it was possible. He didn’t know if Kato appreciated the effort but he at least started to acknowledge him with a short nod when they passed in hall or bumped into each other in copy room or canteen.
Ryo was disheartened because whatever he assumed existed between him and Kato turned out to…not exist. And whatever Ryo thought he might achieve there by being a little bit more outgoing had been simply not on the menu from the start.
Ryo was returning from his last cigarette break; the office was practically empty except for Kato. Kato, was working his extra hours but now he was accompanied by some guy who hadn’t been there when Ryo went out. It was some guy who Ryo was certain didn’t work there because he would have remembered such a good-looking guy.
The man was a little too familiar with Kato for Ryo’s liking; he was leaning behind Kato, his chin resting on Kato’s arm, one arm around Kato’s waist and the other was outstretched, pointing to the computer screen. Kato was unaffected by the closeness which make Ryo conclude that it was a repeated occurrence and something Kato was used to.
Ryo didn’t acknowledge them but he could feel the guy’s intense stare on his back, making Ryo feel unbelievably uncomfortable and tense for all sixteen long strides that he took to his room. The feeling subsided when he closed the door behind him.
For the next ten minutes or so Ryo engrossed himself in working but his working mode was suddenly interrupted by short knock.
“Can I come in?
It was that guy, all gentle smile and warm eyes and that threw Ryo off little, considering the stare he was receiving previously. Ryo smiled back awkwardly.
No. “Yes.” He heard himself say. Where did that came from?
“I’m Shige’s friend. Yamashita Tomohisa,” he introduced himself.
“Nishikido Ryo,” he responded sharply. It came much harsher that Ryo intended to but something about this guy made Ryo feel really weird.
“We’re going to the beach. Shige promised to watch the sunset with me,” he said and sat down. He put his elbow on the edge of the desk and rested his chin in his palm casually like he was talking to a friend. He started to fiddle with his other had with stuff lying out on the table. “I was supposed to wait in his car but I really wanted to see his workplace.”
“That’s…nice, real romantic,” he replied sarcastically and reached his arm over to stop Yamashita from messing with his stuff. “Stop it.”
It all happened in a flash. One moment he was sitting in his own chair, gripping Yamashita’s wrist to stop him from touching his stuff, and the next he was half-lying, half-hanging from his desk with Yamashita’s weight pinning him down.
Occasionally, Ryo humored the idea of dragging Shige from his cubicle into his office and having his way with him on the same desk he was currently pushed onto. But it was fucking uncomfortable, he noted briefly, being pinned like this into the hard surface of his desk cramped with stationery and various, mostly unnecessary personal shit digging into his back. Not that he had that much time to contemplate over this small, albeit world-changing, observation.
Yamashita’s face was centimeters from his own and his gaze, which through the course of their conversation carried this kind of detached feeling now bore into him ferociously. Ryo didn’t waste time and gripped Yamashita’s wrist with both his hands, tried to wriggle out but Yamashita’s hold. But the grip on his collar was strong, inhumanly so.
“What the fuck?!” he hissed when the initial shock wore off and his attempts at freeing himself turned out to be fruitless. “Let me go, you son of a bitch!”
Yamashita’s smile broadened, only this time it didn’t exactly reach his eyes. He kind of looked like a lion or other feline animal that was about to attack its victim.
“Do you want to know something, Ryo-chan?” he drawled and strengthened his grip on Ryo’s shirt, lifting his head from the desk to bring Ryo’s head closer. Their faces were so close now, way too close for Ryo’s comfort. He could feel the other’s breath on his lips.
“Shige is very important to me. I want him to be happy,” he continued. “And I really don’t appreciate the way you’re playing with him.” Yamashita paused, stared Ryo straight in the eye and asked, almost nonchalantly, “Why did you kiss him?”
“How-What-Did he tell you?”
“He didn’t have to, I saw it.”
What the hell? “S-saw it?”
Yamashita nodded but didn’t elaborate. “Answer the question.”
“I…” he gulped. Why was he even going along with this? He should be refusing to answer, he didn’t know who this man was anyway and he had no reason to tell him anything. But somehow he found himself continuing anyway. “I was angry,” Ryo said. He wanted to stop there but the other was giving him a detached and bored look that expressed dissatisfaction and Ryo sighed in defeat. “And jealous, okay?” he finally said.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit too late to feel jealous? You’ve had your chance,” he replied matter-of-factly.
The way Yamashita was so sure of it aggravated Ryo but two could play this game.
“Who says I still don’t have it?” he said in the best nonchalant tone he could muster.
Yamashita’s eyes shone with amusement and the corner of his mouth turned upwards. He leaned in impossibly close and said in a low voice. “I do.”
Then Yamashita closed whatever distance there was between them and crashed their lips together.
Ryo’s arms shoot up and landed on Yamashita’s shoulders to shove him off but Yamashita’s grip was strong and the other man didn’t budge even a bit. The pressure on his lips and the need to breathe became unbearable and Ryo’s lips parted involuntarily.
Now that Yamashita had full access it suddenly felt like Ryo’s body wasn’t his anymore. Like some kind of internal switch was turned off, causing Ryo’s consciousness to vanish. His eyes closed, he could hear himself moan into the kiss; feel his arms wrap around the other’s man neck to pull them closer, kissing back madly. The whine he let out when Yamashita broke the kiss was shameful.
“Just leave him alone,” Yamashita said.
If Yamashita asked him to jump off the bridge right this minute - he would do it. But whatever dizzied spell he was under was broken by soft knocking on the door and Kato’s unsure voice.
“Nishikido-kun? Have you seen-”
“Oh, Shige!” he exclaimed happily, and Ryo’s breath caught in his throat. The last thing he wanted was Kato to see him like this. with his arms thrown around Yamashita, like he was the one who was making moves on him.
Yamashita released the grip he had on Ryo’s shirt causing Ryo’s head to fall back and collide with the stapler. He gave Ryo a fleeting look before bouncing to the where Kato was standing. “Are you ready?” Ryo heard Yamashita ask.
From where he was sprawled on his desk Ryo couldn’t see Kato’s face or his reaction to the scene. He rolled over, stood up awkwardly and whiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
He really expected for Kato to throw him a dirty look but he wasn’t even looking in his direction. His gaze was fixed on Yamashita like he was world’s eighth wonder and not someone who just fucking kissed his boss. How he could not care?
For a moment it looked like Kato wanted to look his way but Yamashita draped his arm protectively around Shige’s shoulders and started steering him out of the room.
“Nice talking to you, Ryo-chan,” Yamashita, that bastard, winked at him and they both were gone.
*
Once Kato and Yamashita had left for their romantic getaway and as soon as Ryo managed to wake up from his frozen state, he gathered his things quickly and left his office. When he was passing Kato’s cubicle the idea struck him. He looked around the office to make sure that he was alone and started to rummage through Shige’s desk. Sadly, there was nothing that could help him determine who, or what the other guy was. Kato was a rather private person and except for a couple of pictures of his friends and family and magazines lying around there was nothing useful.
“This is useless,” he murmured under his breath. Although, it was amusing to learn that Kato was apparently an avid fisher.
But then his gaze fell on the Kato’s computer and he figured that it wouldn’t hurt to look.
*
“Why did you do that?” was the first thing Shige said when they were in the privacy of the car. Shige rarely questioned Yamashita’s actions but this time he went overboard. “He’s my boss for god’s sake.”
“I don’t know. Seemed like fun to rile him up a little.” Yamashita shrugged his shoulders and fiddled with the radio. “He’s very interesting and definitely not an eye-sore. I can see why you like him so much.”
No point denying it. Yamashita could read Shige like an open book. It was really unfair because Shige knew virtually nothing about Yamashita. And there was one thing he was dying to know and somehow there was never a good moment to ask.
“Have you ever been in love with anybody, Yamashita-kun?”
Yamashita looked at him with a surprised expression on his face and Shige felt a little burst of pride because he never got this reaction from the ever composed demon. But it was gone as fast as it appeared, his usual calm and gentle expression taking its place.
“I still am.”
Ryo’s hands were shaking a little and it made it hard to keep the phone close to his ear. He took a couple of calming breaths while waiting for the other to pick up. He relaxed a bit when he heard familiar cheerful voice.
“Yeah? Jin, here.”
“Yo, it’s Ryo. Listen. Are y-“
“Ryo-chan? So good you called, man. Haven’t spoken to you in ages! What’s up? Wanna hang out?”
Ryo ignored the question. “Are you in Tokyo by any chance?”
“No, I will be tomorrow, though. What’s wrong, Ryo-chan? You sound upset.”
“And are you still into that whole supernatural crap?” he inquired.
“Yes,” Jin huffed, a little offended. “Why are you asking, anyway? You were never interested before.”
“I-” Ryo started, hesitant. “I think I might need your, uhm…expertise? Help? I don’t even know. You’re the one who claims to know about this shit.”
“Okay, okay. Listen, I’ve made plans already but I guess the girl can wait. Where do you wanna meet?”
Ryo had never been more glad that Jin lives by his “bros before hos” rule. “Would my place be okay?”
“Sure,” he replied. “And, Ryo-chan? Whatever you’re worrying about? Don’t. We’ll figure this out. It’s never as bad as people think.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.”
*
Jin, as promised, arrived the next day. Ryo felt a little guilty for jumping straight into the case without any pleasantries but there would be time to exchange gossip later. He explained his incident with Yamashita quickly (skipping over the embarrassing details) and what he found while browsing through Kato’s internet history.
“From what you have told me,” Jin started and took a sip from the beer that Ryo had offered when he’d arrived. “It seems we might be dealing with an incubus of some kind. There’s been an uncanny influx of them lately all around.”
“O-okay,” he replied cautiously, the name was unfamiliar to him but Ryo was relieved. They were one step closer to getting rid of it. “That tells me absolutely nothing. Is it dangerous?”
“All demons are,” he began. “According to some of the lore, incubi are fallen angels who feel from grace because of lust. In the Medieval ages in Europe, some monks…” Ryo rolled his eyes; he didn’t need to hear the whole freaking mythology. Jin noticed Ryo’s annoyance and quickly summed up. “Basically, they appear in dreams, cause sexual arousal and then feed on the energy they created. Incubi-”
“But that doesn’t make any sense! I saw it, I was attacked by it!”
Jin ignored Ryo’s outburst. “Incubi can’t possess human bodies, they’re spirits that prefer to appear in dreams so they have no real need for corporeal form,” he explained. “So, if for some reason, they need a physical form they can either reanimate a corpse or create one of their own. “
“D-does that mean that he’s possessing some poor guy’s body?”
“The poor guy was probably dead or at least comatose when it decided to jump his bones and take his body for a ride.”
“That’s…great.”
Jin didn’t note the sarcasm in Ryo’s tone. “It is, actually,” he agreed. “It has a body so it’ll make this whole thing easier for me.”
Ryo nodded his head in understanding and slumped against the back of the couch with relief. They still needed to go over the details but things were looking up a little. He could already picture it; him, as a modern age knight in shining armor saving Kato from the clutches of an evil monster and Kato falling into his arms with words of gratitude and adoration.
“So…this Kato guy,” Jin’s cheerful voice cut through his little fantasy. “You in love with him or something?”
Ryo averted his gaze and shrugged his shoulders, and hated how Jin could see right through him. “Or something.”
“Don’t you worry, Ryo-chan.” Jin clapped him on the shoulder. “Since this demon’s a guy it means you’re half-way there already, right?”
“Moron.”
*
The text came as surprise, not because Shige didn’t expect Nishikido to have his cell number but because Nishikido actually wanted anything to do with Shige after Yamashita’s little stunt. Was Nishikido pissed? He had every reason to be. But it was difficult for Shige to make anything from his message; the text was just like Nishikido was, short and to the point.
He had been reluctant to go down and meet the other man but Yamashita, with a smug smile, said that he should. So he did.
On his way downstairs he passed by an unfamiliar man that acknowledged him with a short nod and a small, comforting smile which Shige, although confused a little, returned. He found Nishikido waiting in front of his apartment building, just like he said he was, sitting on a nearby bench smoking a cigarette and looking at his watch intently.
Nishikido must have felt him staring because he lifted his head and offered small smile. Shige let himself relax; Nishikido didn’t appear to be angry. He greeted Nishikido with short nod.
“What did you want to talk about, Nishikido-kun?”
“Stuff,” he replied ambiguously and gestured the spot next to him for Shige to sit down. “Want one?” he offered when Shige sat down.
Shige didn’t usually smoke but talking was easier when he did. “Y-yes. Thank you.”
The silence was heavy and all of the sudden Shige was edgy again. “I’m really sorry for how Yamashita behaved. He’s not-“
“Don’t worry, I’m over it,” Nishikido cut in. “Besides, it’s wasn’t your fault.”
Shige was baffled how he could be over it since it happened day ago but by the look Nishikido was giving him he could tell Nishikido was telling the truth. Still, if he was okay that didn’t explain why he was there but Shige wasn’t going to dwell on it; it was nice, easy. Sitting together like this and not worrying about all the stuff that happened.
“These are good,” he commented casually after first drag, the comfortable atmosphere letting him unwind. “ I forgot how great smoking can be.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be reminded, then?” Nishikido snapped and quickly tore the cigarette from Shige’s hand and threw it on the ground. Shige gave him dumbfounded look. The sudden change of mood baffled him. He was about to ask what the hell just happened when Nishikido said, “We would want you to get addicted.”
The weird way Nishikido emphasized the word made Shige's stomach clench uncomfortably.
Shige frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he shot back, irritated.
“Don’t play dumb. I know all about your friend.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, hostile.
Nishikido didn't respond. Instead he just stole a quick glance at his watch and then at Shige's apartment building. Shige sensed that something wasn’t right and Nishikido didn’t just drop by to ‘talk’.
He jumped up like he had just been burned. “What did you do?!” he demanded, his tone accusatory.
“Trying to help you, obviously!” Nishikido screamed back, standing up to face Shige. “Seeing as you are too far gone to know how fucked-up this is!”
“I- You wouldn’t understand anyway! What I do in my free-“
“What I understand is the fact that you’d rather fuck a freaking demon than a normal person!” Nishikido replied coldly. “Tell me how that’s common sense.”
Shige knew that Nishikido was right. You didn’t need to be a genius to know that what Shige was doing with Yamashita was so not right and definitely not a typical healthy relationship. Not that he would ever admit it, especially not to Nishikido.
“Just leave me be,” he finally said and turned on his feet and rushed back to the apartment because the help Nishikido mentioned earlier didn’t sound all that helpful, and he had to get to Yamashita before something happened.
“Oh, for fuck’s-wait, Kato!” Nishikido shouted and followed quickly after him.
*
When Ryo caught up to Kato, it’s because he ran straight into him, and nearly fell to the hallway floor. He managed to retain his balance and glanced at Kato who was standing frozen in the doorway, confusion written all over his face. His eyes darted frantically between the two people inside.
Ryo followed Kato’s gaze. When Jin had offered his help, Ryo expected a lot of fighting and crazy exorcisms or something like in the movies. But inside Kato’s apartment was absolutely no fighting but a lot of hugs and smiles instead. Ryo was pretty sure it wasn’t how usual demon-dealing went.
Yamashita looked at Kato and there must have been some wordless communication involved because Kato nodded at Yamashita. The other stood up and went into what Ryo assumed was the bedroom, and Kato followed after him and closed the door behind him.
As soon as the door shut, and the initial shock wore off, Ryo pulled the front door shut as well and turned to Jin with bewildered expression.
“What’s with the people around here?!” he demanded, throwing his arms up in frustration. “Is fucking demons the new black? Why didn’t I get my memo?”
“Ryo-chan,” Jin started, hesitant. “It’s…it’s hard to explain. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I’ve had enough with this ‘you wouldn’t understand’ bullshit.” He glared at Jin. “Try me.”
Jin sighed and started talking.
*
As soon as the door closed after him Shige looked at Yamashita who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Shige joined him and grabbed the other’s hand shakily. His eyes roamed over Yamashita’s face, trying to read something, anything, but Yamashita didn’t make it easy. His face was calm and composed as always.
“What’s going on?” he asked, distressed, and he had the sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like whatever Yamashita told him next.
“I’m sorry, Shige. But I need to go with him.”
“But why? Aren’t you happy here?”
“I am Shige. You have no idea how wonderful it’s been. I was so alone before I found you,” Yamashita said, and after a pause he continued, “But before I found you, Jin and I had the same kind of relationship until his parents called for a professional’s help and I was casted out.”
Shige tried to process all of this, felt conflicted that Yamashita was more or less breaking up with him. “Is-Is he the one you’re in love with?” he asked eventually.
Yamashita nodded without hesitation and Shige didn’t know what to say more, didn’t know what he could possibly say to make Yamashita stay with him, to choose him over his long-lost love.
“And me?” Shige needed to ask. “Do you love me?”
“Shige. How can you even doubt that?” Yamashita said consolingly, and Shige saw truth in his eyes. Shige wasn’t sure if this made it worse. Yamashita squeezed his hand and explained, “But with Jin, it’s different.” He smiled. “As cheesy as it might sound we are soul mates.”
Shige looked away and sighed. How could he say no to that? “I’m going to miss you,” he said honestly.
“I know,” Yamashita said. “I’ll miss you too.” He smiled again, “But I’m happy knowing I’m not leaving you alone.” When Shige looked at him in confusion, Yamashita grinned and said, “Nishikido.”
Shige’s eyes frowned. “What about him?”
“Well, he’s not here by some bizarre accident. He was worried and scared about you enough to seek out help. That’s got to mean something, right?” Yamashita said, and Shige knew he had a point. He couldn’t deny that Nishikido’s concern had felt, well, nice. “And now that I’ll be out of the way, you two could try something together.” Yamashita smiled.
“It sounds so easy when you say it like that.” Shige sighed.
“It is,” Yamashita agreed. “Why do you always make things more complicated than they are? You like him and he obviously feels the same.”
Shige didn’t want to think about that right now. He asked instead, “Will you visit, at least?”
“I might drop by on occasion,” Yamashita said. “But before that, make me proud, Shige. You two better be fucking after I leave.”
*
It’d been almost an hour since Jin and Yamashita left the apartment. Kato was still locked inside his room. An hour that Ryo had spent trying not to think about what Jin had told him and instead had busied himself by reading random magazines he found and occasionally stealing uneasy glances towards the closed door to Kato’s bedroom. But it was getting ridiculous. He threw the magazine onto the coffee table in frustration and stood up fully intent on ending whatever unnecessary self-pitying Kato was probably wallowing in.
Ryo was half-way there when the door opened and he was met with Kato’s surprised and slightly confused look. It seemed Kato had completely forgotten that Nishikido was here.
“You’re still here?” he asked, his voice reflecting the shock in his eyes.
Ryo nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh, that’s really thoughtful,” Kato chuckled sarcastically. “Since this is all your fault.”
Kato was clearly in a hostile mood and was trying to pick a fight. Too bad, Ryo thought. He promised not to let himself be carried away and instead remained as calm and reasonable as possible.
He sighed. “Listen, Jin’s an idiot but he’s an acute idiot and…” he trailed off. He really didn’t want to get into that yet, and started over. “Kato…You’re a smart guy, but you’re naïve. You had to know that-”
“I’m not a kid, you know?” Kato snapped back and shoved past Ryo. “I damn well knew what I was doing.”
Ryo’s instinctively reached out and grabbed Kato’s arm as he started to walk away. Kato stopped dead in his tracks but didn’t turn around to face Ryo. Kato didn’t seem interested in discussing this, but Ryo wasn’t going to just let it all slide.
“Damn it, Ka - Shige,” he said, using Kato’s given name for the first time. He said it softly and could almost feel Kato tense in surprise before slowly relaxing. “Shige,” he said again, coaxingly, but when Shige still wouldn’t look at him, he sighed. “I don’t want to talk to the back of your head.”
Ryo pulled on Kato’s arm, and turned him around despite whether Kato wanted to do this or not. But Kato surprisingly didn’t put up any resistance, nor did he pull his hand away from Ryo’s grip. Now that they were face to face, the distance between them small, Ryo could see Kato’s face more clearly. His eyes were red and puffy and Ryo’s face fell and everything he’d wanted to say vanished from his mind.
“Were you crying?” he asked worriedly.
Shige rubbed at his eyes with his other hand and nodded. “A little bit, yeah,” he admitted, tired.
The sight of Shige being this vulnerable and open in front of him made Ryo’s heart hurt. He’d never seen such an expression on Kato before and hearing him admit to having cried earlier without hesitation made Ryo uncertain of what to say, or do.
Cautiously, Ryo reached out a hand and pressed his palm against the side of Shige’s neck. Kato dropped the hand from his face and looked at Ryo in surprise, but he didn’t tell him to stop nor did he move away. And this made Ryo more daring. He rubbed Shige’s cheek in comforting circles with his thumb and the blood rushed in his ears when Shige leaned into the touch slowly. Ryo licked his lips, eyes taking in Shige’s expression, gauging his reaction, and the earlier sadness seemed to be replaced by something else entirely, the same kind of emotion that was bubbling up inside Ryo’s stomach.
Ryo leaned forward, just a little, his eyes darted down to Shige’s lips, and his intention had to be clear. He gave Shige plenty of time to dodge the kiss, and when Shige didn’t, it felt a bit like Ryo’s heart had soared from his chest.
Shige’s breath hitched at the first tentative touch on Ryo’s full lips on his. He didn’t kiss back but he didn’t push him off either, so Ryo took it as a good sign. He brought Shige’s face closer, deepening the kiss and sighed contently when Shige hesitantly opened his mouth to let Ryo in. He slowly wrapped his arm around Ryo’s back and finally started to kiss back.
Ryo would be happy to just stay like this and kiss for hours but there were things that needed to be said before he could enjoy it completely. He needed to know if Shige’s reasons to kiss him were the same as his and not because he was feeling sad and lonely. Ryo couldn’t stand to be his rebound.
He slowly broke the kiss, drew a calming breath and rested his forehead against Shige’s. When he opened his eyes the other man was looking at him affectionately, a small smile gracing his lips. Ryo felt a sudden bust of courage and decided to finally man up and go along with it.
“I - I know it’s been a crazy day, for both of us,” he started carefully, and he could feel himself blushing already. “And it’s probably too soon but I -”
“I know,” Shige interrupted and Ryo’s eyes widened. He never thought he was that obvious about his feelings when he was around him. How did Shige realize when Ryo himself had such a hard time figuring it out? “Yamashita-kun told me,” Shige explained when he saw Ryo’s confused face.
Ryo frowned at the mention of the other man but tried to keep the eye-roll under control. “Of course he did,” he grit out.
Shige turned his head to the side but Ryo still could see him flushing. “I do, too,” he said timidly and buried his head in the crook of Ryo’s neck and Ryo could feel him smiling against his skin.
It was so cute that Ryo had hard time containing his glee, his heart fluttering in his chest erratically. He wrapped his arms around Shige’s waist and hugged him awkwardly, hoping that his will convey his happiness in a way that any words he could come up with right now never could.
They stayed like that, just hugging in the middle of Shige’s living room, for Ryo didn’t know how long, but he didn’t care. For him it was the perfect moment.
Eventually Kato whispered, his breath tickling Ryo’s skin, “Will you stay the night?”
Hell yes, he will. “Why?” Ryo asked calmly, he didn’t want to appear too eager after all.
“I have an assignment,” Shige responded enigmatically and untangled himself from the embrace.
He gave Ryo a smile full of promise and disappeared into his room, tossing Ryo one last look over his shoulder.
Ryo followed him without question.
He was looking forward to finding out.
From: newsficcon
Title: All The Wrong Places (looking for love)
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Ryo/Shige, Yamapi/Shige.
Warnings: AU, glossed-over sexytimes, butchered demonology and language.
Summary: Shige dreams, Yamapi meddles and Ryo grows suspicious.
Notes: for natsudive! I was really excited when I got you as my assignment because we both like the same paring. I’ve had so much fun with coming up with this idea. Not so much fun writing it but I hope you’ll enjoy it! ♥ Big thanks to R and D for wonderful beta, guidance and helpful suggestions.
It’d been three weeks. Three weeks since he first had this…dream. Or nightmare. Shige had no idea what to call them anyway. They weren’t dreams, not the usual kind, not with the way they made him feel. It’s as though he was both asleep and awake, he could feel every dreamed clever touch, every light caress. Dreamed hands brushing along inch of his body, leaving him moaning and begging for more. Even through the haze of sleep, he could hear himself - hear those pitiful noises escaping from his mouth.
But then those touches weren’t teasing and light anymore. They gradually turned into a combination of pleasure and pain. Mixed in with something that he never felt before. The dreams had him tossing, sweating, griping his sheets and even, true-to-god coming in his slumber. Something Shige believed only existed in trashy erotic novels.
Shige wasn’t stupid; he damn well knew that what was happening to him couldn’t be considered a common thing. So he went to see a doctor. Not because he really wanted to get rid of the dreams (because, to be quite honest he enjoyed them) but because it was the right thing to do. He figured he had to do something in a situation like this.
He told the doctor as much as he could skipping the embarrassing details. Doctor’s diagnosis? Stress. Shige almost rolled his eyes. He should’ve expected this; it’s always the fucking stress. But Shige wasn’t under any stress. Contrary to the popular belief of his office coworkers and family, he didn’t freak out over every little thing and work had been slow for some time already. He didn’t tell the doctor this of course. He took his prescription and left with quick thank you.
The pills doctor prescribed didn’t help much at all. The weird thing? Shige was totally okay with that. He was more than glad that he still had those dreams, even though they tended to leave him so horribly exhausted and unfocused that he couldn’t do his work properly. He realized he shouldn’t think that way. But, with somewhat of a heavy hearts, Shige finally admitted to himself that he didn’t really care.
He would take the dreams. He couldn’t have it in real life anyway.
***
Shige was fine with things as they were but that didn’t cloud his common sense completely. He was curious about what was actually going on and what it exactly meant. So, he researched. He didn’t really have time (and patience) to go to the library, and he didn’t really know where to even begin, so he used the internet. His company was pretty lenient when it came to using internet during work hours so checked at the office in between work. He could do it at home, sure but to be perfectly honest he would much go home than spending his time researching and wasting time being awake.
As expected, he didn’t find much. The Japanese websites weren’t too rich in information. He figured English ones would be more helpful but unfortunately he didn’t understand much of what was written there (English wasn’t one of his strong feat, okay?). Though maybe , on the other hand, it was a good thing that he couldn’t any solid information. The shreds of information he did understand, assuming they were real (and somehow he had no problem believing they were), should scare the living crap out of him.
He was so lost in digesting all this information in that he didn’t notice someone walking up behind him until there was a warm hand resting on his shoulder and sharp voice cutting through his thoughts.
“Kato.”
Shige jumped slightly in his seat at the unexpected touch and turned around to see Nishikido who offered a small smile in apology and quickly retracted his hand.
“What are you still doing here? Everyone else left already, “ Nishikido said.
Shige looked around the office. He really didn’t know how he missed that. “Ah, sorry.” He looked up at Nishikido with a sheepish smile, “I guess I must have zoned out.”
“I can see that,” he laughed. “And I really hope it’s not porn you’ve been staring at so intently. The IT nerds would have your head if you gave your computer some internet STDs, you know?” Ryo grinned when Kato flushed at the insinuation. “Come on, let’s go,” he said and made his way to the elevators without waiting.
Shige nodded at the back of Nishikido’s head, even though the other couldn’t see it and gathered his things. He turned off the computer and followed quickly, not wanting to look like an even bigger moron by being sluggish on a top off it all.
Nishikido waited for Shige to get into the elevator before pushing ground-level button and leaned back against the metal wall, “So,” Nishikido started when the door closed. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, any exciting plans?”
Shige turned to look at Nishikido and shrugged his shoulders. “Why?”
“Matsumoto’s throwing another party,” he explained. “You should come,” he suggested with a smile and eyes that have no right to be so bright for this time of the day. “It’d be fun.”
“If by fun you mean another picture of me with Jigglypuff doodles on my face circulating around the office again then no, thank you.” Shige cringed at the memory; it had taken him two days to clean the freaking doodles off. Good thing it had been weekend.
“Well, you shouldn’t have passed out on bathroom floor.”
Well, you shouldn’t have left me there in the first place Shige thought bitterly. He won’t say it though because Nishikido didn’t remember anyway. He had been just as plastered as him that night. “Believe me, if I had known Tegoshi was carrying permanent markers with him, I wouldn’t have,” he grumbled and scratched at the side of his face where the drawing used to be.
The elevator beeped its arrival at the ground floor. “You need to admit, though,” Nishikido chuckled, getting off and making his way out of the building into the parking lot, “it was pretty hilarious.”
“I guess it was,” he agreed and followed Nishikido outside.
As expected the parking lot was pretty much deserted expect for a few cars; his and Nishikido’s were parked next to each other . They silently made their way toward the cars and Shige was thankful for that, he didn’t feel like making pointless conversation.
Shige opened the driver’s door and was about to get into the car when he stole a final glance at Nishikido. The other man was leaning against his own car, looking at him expectantly, obviously waiting for the answer.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Shige apologized in what was probably the most unconvincing way in history. “I have plans already.”
It seemed to be good enough for Nishikido. “As always, you’re zero fun Kato.”
“Guilty as charged,” he sighed in fake defeat. He cast a quick glance at Nishikido. “See you on Monday, Nishikido-kun.” And with that he got into the car and drove off.
*
Ryo waited until Kato’s car disappeared into the busy street before he heaved a heavy sigh and got into his own, heading off in the other direction.
He really hoped that Kato would come to the party and maybe, just maybe, if he played his cards right and Kato wouldn’t pass out halfway through, that there would be a continuation, or at least a repeat, of last time. It was now over that two months ago since that night when he had found Kato dead drunk and half asleep in the bathroom (the drunk idiot had forgotten to lock the door) but Ryo could still remember it like it was yesterday.
It was really hard to forget. All he had wanted to do was to put Kato somewhere else where he would be able to sober up, but instead he ended up with a handful of warm body, wet lips on his and persistent tongue in his mouth trying to suck the air out of him. To say that Ryo was shocked would have been the understatement of the year, not because he never pegged Kato to be a slutty drunk but because it was him on the receiving end of this onslaught . Incredibly hot onslaught, if he might add.
Ryo didn’t have much time to analyze why it was happening, not when he had Kato’s hands cupping his ass pulling him closer and his ankle hooked tightly around Ryo’s, like he was afraid Ryo might stop and leave. And if Ryo wasn’t busy with kissing Kato back as fiercely as Kato was kissing him he might have told him not to be an idiot and that he didn’t plan on going anywhere. Not when he was finally doing what he had wanted to ever since he started to work at the Tokyo branch. Like a year ago.
So, yes, it was safe to say that Ryo was more than happy with the current situation. With Ryo’s new-found enthusiasm his mouth became more demanding and his hands gripped front of Kato’s shirt. Kato must have felt the way his mood shifted as well, because the hands that were kneading Ryo’s ass moved to clumsily fumble with the front of his pants and soon enough Kato was cupping him through the material of his underwear. Ryo groaned at the bold touch and broke the kiss. He latched his lips to Kato’s neck instead and nipped and bit at the skin there.
That’s when things went downhill; Kato’s hands stilled, his forehead fell on Ryo’s shoulder and all Ryo could hear in the tiny room, besides his own heavy breathing, was Kato snoring (it wasn’t even cute snore, either). The idiot had passed out. Ryo would have laughed at the hilarity of the situation if he wasn’t uncomfortably hard and was supporting the deadweight of his unconscious colleague.
He wasn’t proud of what he did afterward because leaving Kato on the bathroom floor was a pretty shitty thing to do, but he was too drunk himself to care about that. He took a bit of comfort by putting a folded a towel under Kato’s head before he went his merry way. He ended up hooking up with some girl from the party but even when they were fucking he could still taste Kato on his lips.
Ever since that night, Ryo had started to pay more attention to Kato; the way he carried himself at work, the way he joked and laughed with people. And what had started out as a little, harmless infatuation slowly turned into something else that Ryo felt too cowardly to pursue.
And judging by the fact that Kato behaved around him as he always did and didn’t acknowledge what had happened that night (Ryo was sure he didn’t remember) Ryo didn’t think he ever could.
*
Shige was a rather a modest guy but he would be first to admit that he deserved a freaking Oscar for all this acting he was pulling off around Nishikido. It was easy, usually. They didn’t work together that much. Ever since Nishikido was transferred (and promoted) from the Osaka branch, he had been mainly handling the supervising position and that didn’t require much one-on-one interaction besides occasional briefings and once a month employee evaluations.
Still, sometimes Nishikido would venture out of his private office and stop by at each cubicle to offer some advice, praise for job well done or to joke a little with the employees. He was also impeccably professional and competent. No wonder he was everyone’s favourite boss ever to grace this floor; Shige’s was pretty sure, though, that his own favouritism went further and in the other direction than those of his male colleagues.
Nishikido was smoking hot, with his sharp eyes, messy hair and bright (if slightly psychotic) smile. One would have to be blind or without the taste to miss that. And, because Shige was neither, he embarrassingly quickly developed a crush. Which, when Shige thought about it, wasn’t so strange after all. Imagine being a five on the Kinsey’s scale and working in a room full of ordinary looking men (Tegoshi didn’t count). And then enter new, completely extraordinarily looking boss. Shige had never stood a chance.
He also blamed the demands of being an adult, because when one works as much as Shige does, free time was rare to come by and when it did, Shige simply didn’t have strength to go out and meet new people. Maintaining the friendships he had was hard enough already. Or hypothetical relationships for that matter; the last one he had lasted for two months and that was a year and a half ago. And it had consequently left him horny, hungry for affection and perhaps a little bit desperate. Having an office romance seemed like a win-win situation to Shige.
So, it’s a combination of all of this and his inebriated state that had led to what in Matsumoto-san’s bathroom that night, during the party that Tegoshi dragged him to. Even though he had drunk quite a bit and blacked out for a while, he still remembered how he practically attacked the other man, when all Nishikido wanted to do was to help him out of the bathroom.
He would have preferred that he hadn’t remembered but Shige always tended to remember every detail of his drunken excursions, no matter how much he drank. It sucked because he couldn’t have real fun without a major guilt-trip next morning.
That night he had been woken up by the sound of camera flash going off and Tegoshi’s poorly concealed giggles. He didn’t know what he expected but for sure it hadn’t been waking up on freaking bathroom floor. Well, obviously Nishikido was pissed at him about what happened because otherwise wouldn’t have left him there. Shige had been pretty bummed but decided that he could at least attempt apologizing to Nishikido. He still was drunk; he figured it would be easier in his alcohol-induced state so the embarrassment he would have felt if he had done it sober would be practically nonexistent.
But Shige had quickly noticed that Nishikido didn’t need any apologizing to. The girl he was sucking face with was certainly doing her best to help him forget. Haruko? Harumi? Shige was sure that they had been introduced to each other earlier but that was back when he still was still sober and living in his ‘I Pretend I Care About You and Your Life Land’.
What shocked Shige the most about the whole thing was how disappointed he felt that moment. Disappointment indicated that he actually cared and judging by the strength of his current feelings he actually cared an awful lot. On one hand, it had been to be expected, he had heard stories, after all, about Nishikido being a little bit of a man-whore (and it didn’t really surprise him, with a face like that it’s understandable that it’s takes him minimal effort to get lucky) but the speed was still rather astonishing. And didn’t Shige just do the same thing, anyway?
He vaguely remembered Tegoshi taking him home and going on and on how an awesome friend he was, and then bitching at him that because of his drunk ass he had blown off some pretty blond foreign girl to make sure that Shige arrived safely and that for this selfless act he should be rewarded with backrubs and bentos for the whole week.
Needless to say, since Nishikido didn’t seem interested in any apologies, Shige kept his mouth shut and continued to pull off even better acting than he did for his parents when he was eighteen and came back home drunk.
*
"So, you finally figured it out," a voice said as a hand skimmed across his brow. Shige leaned into the touch, and the voice said again, "I knew you would, Shigeaki." It was proud and serene, making Shige feel as if he could curl those words around him and be safe. Smooth hands brushed across his bare shoulders, and Shige made a noise of contentment low in his throat as he allowed himself to relax into the sheets, cool against his back.
“Shige,” he murmured. “Shigeaki is what my parents call me.”
“Hmm,” the voice hummed, amused. “Anything else?”
Drowsing still, he opened his eyes a crack, and there above him, for the first time ever, he saw a figure, silhouetted in the darkness and surrounding him with thick feathers. "I want to see you,” he murmured as he sank into the pillows, allowing his eyes to slip shut once more.
*
Three days later, Shige did.
When he opened the door to soft knocking he immediately knew this was It.
The man before him greeted Shige with a little, shy smile and gentle eyes. He had muscles and curves where Nishikido had slopes and angles.
Shige smiled back; he couldn't have been more pleased.
*
As It didn’t have a name, they decided Shige would call It after the body he was wearing: Yamashita Tomohisa - that’s what the discharge papers said. Shige tried not to dwell on the fact that this is some person’s body but It - Yamashita - kept reassuring him that it was okay. The real Yamashita suffered from a surfing accident and was already brain-dead when It found him lying comatose in the hospital, the doctors only moments away from pulling out the plug. And when It saw him, It thought that it would be completely wrong to let such a pretty body go to waste. The doctors called it a miracle, wanted to keep Yamashita longer for observation and such but with It now inside Yamashita body charmed his way out easily.
Being together with Yamashita was completely different than what Shige expected. He imagined fear and terror and other dreadful and appalling things, but in all honesty it was just simply fantastic. The sex was out of this world but that was no surprise, seeing as Yamashita was out of this world himself. But there was more to it than that.
Despite Yamashita’s demonic nature he actually had really gentle and caring personality. He took care of Shige like no one had in a long time. Yamashita made sure that he had at least one warm meal a day (though he was rather a lousy cook), kept the apartment tidy while Shige was at work, washed his hair for him when Shige felt particularly lazy or had a bad day. What Shige probably enjoyed the most was that Yamashita seemed genuinely interested in Shige’s life, making idle talk and asking all those silly and pointless little questions that couldn’t possibly interest him but he claimed he wanted to hear about anyway.
A couple of times Shige tried asking Yamashita about his life…or un-life. But every time Yamashita found a way, usually with his hands or mouth, to distract him so that Shige was unable to form anything resembling an intelligible sentence, let alone remember what he’d asked in the first place. Yamashita was dead-set on not telling Shige anything, so eventually he stopped trying.
Even with this little drawback that Shige soon got over, to Shige it seemed like Yamashita’s whole existence revolved around him. And even though it probably didn’t, it still made him feel like he mattered to someone. So, it was really hard to care about the wrongness of it or anything else for that matter when it made Shige feel happier than he had in years.
*
When Shige turned up for work the first thing he saw was a yellow post-it stuck to his computer screen saying Come see me during the lunch break, Nishikido. Shige’s stomach twisted unpleasantly and he slumped in his chair. He suspected what Nishikido wanted to discuss and Shige didn’t feel like talking about it with anyone. But even he, himself noticed decrease in his work performance and if he were in Nishikido’s place he would have fired his ass long ago.
With this very unpleasant possibility hanging above his head, and with new found vigour, Shige started to work, hoping that he could somehow make up for his recent incompetence so that his boss would see that he did care about this job.
*
Ryo was just finishing his lunch when soft knocking reached his ears and Kato’s head popped in.
“You wanted to see me?”
Ryo nodded, swallowing the rest of his food. “Yeah, sit down,” he gestured to the chair in front of his desk. As Kato closed the door and made his way toward the chair, Ryo assessed him carefully.
Kato’s clothes were askew, his hair messed and if Ryo were to check he was sure that Kato’s socks were mismatched as well. It was apparent that he had left for work in a hurry today; Ryo frowned.
“Rough day?
Kato relaxed into the seat. “Kind of.”
“You seem to have a lot of those, lately.” Ryo sighed.
He stood up from his seat, made his way around the desk and sat on the worktop; Ryo figured it’d make this whole talk more informal.
“Listen, Kato,” he started and crossed his arms across his chest. “Ever since I took over this department you’ve been a really good employee, one of the best I’ve worked with, actually. Punctual, focused, dedicated to work and so on, but as of late-”
Kato tensed up. “Am I fired?”
“Do you want to be?” Ryo asked with a roll of his eyes.
“No, of course not.”
“Then shut up and let me finish,” Ryo snapped. “You’re way behind with your work but since I’m such a great person, I’ve already talked with Tegoshi and he agreed to help you out. He will take over your work and I’ll assign you something else. Fresh start.”
Kato was listening intently and didn’t interrupt so Ryo continued.
“Also, I think it’ll be a good idea for you to stay after when you can until you can catch up and return to the hardworking person I know you can be,” he suggested. “What do you think, sounds fair?”
“Yes. Thank you,” Kato agreed enthusiastically and Ryo was happy to note that he wasn’t as tense as before. “I really apologize for the trouble I’ve caused. I will work hard from now on.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied with a grin. “Anyway, here,” he reached behind and grabbed a file folder to give to Kato. “This is your new assignment. You better not screw up.”
Ryo hadn’t notice it before, not with the way Kato was awkwardly keeping his hands folded on his lap during the talk, but when Kato reached his arm for the file, the his shirt sleeve ridden up to reveal angry looking bruise spoiling the skin on Kato’s wrist. He reacted before he could even give it a thought and swiftly gripped the other’s man wrist, causing the file to fall on the floor, papers scattering out across their feet.
“What the hell is this?” he asked heatedly, his hard gaze boring into the blemish and then switching to Kato’s aghast face. “Well?” he demanded.
Kato didn’t reply, sprung up from his seat and tried to break away from Ryo’s grip but the more fiercely he struggled the stronger Ryo held on. His other hand found Kato’s shoulder, twisting the fabric there and pushed him back down to the seat to keep him in place. The material he gripped rode down to bare even more bruised skin on the side of Kato’s neck.
The cause of them is pretty clear now and Ryo would have laughed if he hadn’t been so inexplicably angry at Kato who, evidently, was able to enjoy himself without Ryo’s involvement.
“I see you also had a rough night.” He smirked mockingly and leaned in so that their faces were millimeters from each other. Kato turned his face in an attempt to put some distance between them, but it only angered Ryo even more. “I didn’t peg you as the type, Shige.”
Ryo never called Kato by his first name, not outside his bedroom at least, and it took him by surprise as much as it did Kato. He turned his head sharply to look at Ryo; Ryo could see a slight blush decorating his cheeks but his eyes were anything but embarrassed. Kato’s gaze was hard and intense and that threw Ryo a little off.
It was Kato’s turn to smirk now. “You have no idea,” he breathed.
Kato wrongly assumed that this will settle the whole exchange and would make Ryo let him go but he clearly underestimated Ryo’s inability to remain coolheaded in situations like this.
It was like that time in the bathroom only now it was Ryo who crushed his lips against Kato’s and it was Kato who let out a surprised moan. A moan which Ryo mistook for a sign of approval and let go of Kato’s wrist. He brought his hand to the back of Kato’s neck to bring him closer and deepen the kiss. Kato placed his palms on Ryo’s chest and in a span of seconds Ryo was flying back, and colliding with the edge of his desk. He hissed in pain at the impact.
That’s not how this was supposed to go, he thought and looked at Kato with bewildered eyes. The other man jumped up from the seat, red in the face, breathing heavily, his posture tense and straight as an arrow. He was looking at him with a similar expression, though his was probably more confused than Ryo’s.
Kato’s lips were gaping like a fish out of water and no words were coming out. Ryo straightened up and cleared his throat, tried to say something, say anything but whatever he was about to say, Kato wasn’t interested in hearing. He turned on his feet and stormed out, closing the door behind him unceremoniously, leaving Ryo alone in his office.
Ryo let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed at his sore back-bone. He returned to his seat and ran his hand through his hair. At this moment, he really hoped he won’t be getting sued for sexual harassment.
*
“You’re early today,” Yamashita commented when Shige came back home earlier than he usually did. He rose from where he was laying on the couch, watching TV and slowly made his way towards Shige. He cupped Shige’s face with his palm and gave him worried look. “Did something happen?”
Shige closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. “Nothing I want to talk about,” he replied with a sigh, wrapped his hand around Yamashita’s wrist and squeezed for emphasis.
“Shige,” Yamashita said pointedly. “Is it about this Nishikido person?”
“How-” Shige’s eyes snapped open. Yamashita had no way to know what had happened, unless he...Shige frowned. ”Please, don’t do that,” he said sharply. “I asked you not to read my mind.”
Yamashita hand untwisted from Shige’s hold, his other joining in to wrap around Shige’s waist, bringing him closer.
“I can’t help it when you won’t tell me anything,” he admitted and rested his cheek on Shige’s shoulder; Shige returned the hug. “And I need to know what you think if I want to make you feel good.”
“There are other ways to make me feel good that don’t require reading my mind.” His hands slowly sneaked under Yamashita’s t-shirt and grazed the soft skin of Yamashita’s back purposefully.
“Let’s go to bed.”
“Not today, Shige.” Yamashita reached behind to stop Shige’s wandering hands. He looked at Shige with concerned gaze. “You need to rest. I can see I’m wearing you down.”
“But...Aren’t you weak?” Shige replied, disappointment evident in his voice. Shige didn’t care that right now he sounded really pathetic, he could be as whiny as he liked around Yamashita. “I don’t mind. Really.”
He cupped Shige’s face with his hands and smiled fondly. “Don’t worry, I’ll survive without feeding for one night.”
Shige nodded, resigned. “Okay.”
“Go take a bath and I’ll fix you something to eat.”
“You can join me if you want.” Shige said, teasingly.
But Yamashita only ruffled his Shige’s hair in response and disappeared into the kitchen.
*
Luckily, Ryo didn’t get sued but that was maybe because he made sure not to remind Kato of his existence and avoid him as much as it was possible. He didn’t know if Kato appreciated the effort but he at least started to acknowledge him with a short nod when they passed in hall or bumped into each other in copy room or canteen.
Ryo was disheartened because whatever he assumed existed between him and Kato turned out to…not exist. And whatever Ryo thought he might achieve there by being a little bit more outgoing had been simply not on the menu from the start.
Ryo was returning from his last cigarette break; the office was practically empty except for Kato. Kato, was working his extra hours but now he was accompanied by some guy who hadn’t been there when Ryo went out. It was some guy who Ryo was certain didn’t work there because he would have remembered such a good-looking guy.
The man was a little too familiar with Kato for Ryo’s liking; he was leaning behind Kato, his chin resting on Kato’s arm, one arm around Kato’s waist and the other was outstretched, pointing to the computer screen. Kato was unaffected by the closeness which make Ryo conclude that it was a repeated occurrence and something Kato was used to.
Ryo didn’t acknowledge them but he could feel the guy’s intense stare on his back, making Ryo feel unbelievably uncomfortable and tense for all sixteen long strides that he took to his room. The feeling subsided when he closed the door behind him.
For the next ten minutes or so Ryo engrossed himself in working but his working mode was suddenly interrupted by short knock.
“Can I come in?
It was that guy, all gentle smile and warm eyes and that threw Ryo off little, considering the stare he was receiving previously. Ryo smiled back awkwardly.
No. “Yes.” He heard himself say. Where did that came from?
“I’m Shige’s friend. Yamashita Tomohisa,” he introduced himself.
“Nishikido Ryo,” he responded sharply. It came much harsher that Ryo intended to but something about this guy made Ryo feel really weird.
“We’re going to the beach. Shige promised to watch the sunset with me,” he said and sat down. He put his elbow on the edge of the desk and rested his chin in his palm casually like he was talking to a friend. He started to fiddle with his other had with stuff lying out on the table. “I was supposed to wait in his car but I really wanted to see his workplace.”
“That’s…nice, real romantic,” he replied sarcastically and reached his arm over to stop Yamashita from messing with his stuff. “Stop it.”
It all happened in a flash. One moment he was sitting in his own chair, gripping Yamashita’s wrist to stop him from touching his stuff, and the next he was half-lying, half-hanging from his desk with Yamashita’s weight pinning him down.
Occasionally, Ryo humored the idea of dragging Shige from his cubicle into his office and having his way with him on the same desk he was currently pushed onto. But it was fucking uncomfortable, he noted briefly, being pinned like this into the hard surface of his desk cramped with stationery and various, mostly unnecessary personal shit digging into his back. Not that he had that much time to contemplate over this small, albeit world-changing, observation.
Yamashita’s face was centimeters from his own and his gaze, which through the course of their conversation carried this kind of detached feeling now bore into him ferociously. Ryo didn’t waste time and gripped Yamashita’s wrist with both his hands, tried to wriggle out but Yamashita’s hold. But the grip on his collar was strong, inhumanly so.
“What the fuck?!” he hissed when the initial shock wore off and his attempts at freeing himself turned out to be fruitless. “Let me go, you son of a bitch!”
Yamashita’s smile broadened, only this time it didn’t exactly reach his eyes. He kind of looked like a lion or other feline animal that was about to attack its victim.
“Do you want to know something, Ryo-chan?” he drawled and strengthened his grip on Ryo’s shirt, lifting his head from the desk to bring Ryo’s head closer. Their faces were so close now, way too close for Ryo’s comfort. He could feel the other’s breath on his lips.
“Shige is very important to me. I want him to be happy,” he continued. “And I really don’t appreciate the way you’re playing with him.” Yamashita paused, stared Ryo straight in the eye and asked, almost nonchalantly, “Why did you kiss him?”
“How-What-Did he tell you?”
“He didn’t have to, I saw it.”
What the hell? “S-saw it?”
Yamashita nodded but didn’t elaborate. “Answer the question.”
“I…” he gulped. Why was he even going along with this? He should be refusing to answer, he didn’t know who this man was anyway and he had no reason to tell him anything. But somehow he found himself continuing anyway. “I was angry,” Ryo said. He wanted to stop there but the other was giving him a detached and bored look that expressed dissatisfaction and Ryo sighed in defeat. “And jealous, okay?” he finally said.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit too late to feel jealous? You’ve had your chance,” he replied matter-of-factly.
The way Yamashita was so sure of it aggravated Ryo but two could play this game.
“Who says I still don’t have it?” he said in the best nonchalant tone he could muster.
Yamashita’s eyes shone with amusement and the corner of his mouth turned upwards. He leaned in impossibly close and said in a low voice. “I do.”
Then Yamashita closed whatever distance there was between them and crashed their lips together.
Ryo’s arms shoot up and landed on Yamashita’s shoulders to shove him off but Yamashita’s grip was strong and the other man didn’t budge even a bit. The pressure on his lips and the need to breathe became unbearable and Ryo’s lips parted involuntarily.
Now that Yamashita had full access it suddenly felt like Ryo’s body wasn’t his anymore. Like some kind of internal switch was turned off, causing Ryo’s consciousness to vanish. His eyes closed, he could hear himself moan into the kiss; feel his arms wrap around the other’s man neck to pull them closer, kissing back madly. The whine he let out when Yamashita broke the kiss was shameful.
“Just leave him alone,” Yamashita said.
If Yamashita asked him to jump off the bridge right this minute - he would do it. But whatever dizzied spell he was under was broken by soft knocking on the door and Kato’s unsure voice.
“Nishikido-kun? Have you seen-”
“Oh, Shige!” he exclaimed happily, and Ryo’s breath caught in his throat. The last thing he wanted was Kato to see him like this. with his arms thrown around Yamashita, like he was the one who was making moves on him.
Yamashita released the grip he had on Ryo’s shirt causing Ryo’s head to fall back and collide with the stapler. He gave Ryo a fleeting look before bouncing to the where Kato was standing. “Are you ready?” Ryo heard Yamashita ask.
From where he was sprawled on his desk Ryo couldn’t see Kato’s face or his reaction to the scene. He rolled over, stood up awkwardly and whiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
He really expected for Kato to throw him a dirty look but he wasn’t even looking in his direction. His gaze was fixed on Yamashita like he was world’s eighth wonder and not someone who just fucking kissed his boss. How he could not care?
For a moment it looked like Kato wanted to look his way but Yamashita draped his arm protectively around Shige’s shoulders and started steering him out of the room.
“Nice talking to you, Ryo-chan,” Yamashita, that bastard, winked at him and they both were gone.
*
Once Kato and Yamashita had left for their romantic getaway and as soon as Ryo managed to wake up from his frozen state, he gathered his things quickly and left his office. When he was passing Kato’s cubicle the idea struck him. He looked around the office to make sure that he was alone and started to rummage through Shige’s desk. Sadly, there was nothing that could help him determine who, or what the other guy was. Kato was a rather private person and except for a couple of pictures of his friends and family and magazines lying around there was nothing useful.
“This is useless,” he murmured under his breath. Although, it was amusing to learn that Kato was apparently an avid fisher.
But then his gaze fell on the Kato’s computer and he figured that it wouldn’t hurt to look.
*
“Why did you do that?” was the first thing Shige said when they were in the privacy of the car. Shige rarely questioned Yamashita’s actions but this time he went overboard. “He’s my boss for god’s sake.”
“I don’t know. Seemed like fun to rile him up a little.” Yamashita shrugged his shoulders and fiddled with the radio. “He’s very interesting and definitely not an eye-sore. I can see why you like him so much.”
No point denying it. Yamashita could read Shige like an open book. It was really unfair because Shige knew virtually nothing about Yamashita. And there was one thing he was dying to know and somehow there was never a good moment to ask.
“Have you ever been in love with anybody, Yamashita-kun?”
Yamashita looked at him with a surprised expression on his face and Shige felt a little burst of pride because he never got this reaction from the ever composed demon. But it was gone as fast as it appeared, his usual calm and gentle expression taking its place.
“I still am.”
Ryo’s hands were shaking a little and it made it hard to keep the phone close to his ear. He took a couple of calming breaths while waiting for the other to pick up. He relaxed a bit when he heard familiar cheerful voice.
“Yeah? Jin, here.”
“Yo, it’s Ryo. Listen. Are y-“
“Ryo-chan? So good you called, man. Haven’t spoken to you in ages! What’s up? Wanna hang out?”
Ryo ignored the question. “Are you in Tokyo by any chance?”
“No, I will be tomorrow, though. What’s wrong, Ryo-chan? You sound upset.”
“And are you still into that whole supernatural crap?” he inquired.
“Yes,” Jin huffed, a little offended. “Why are you asking, anyway? You were never interested before.”
“I-” Ryo started, hesitant. “I think I might need your, uhm…expertise? Help? I don’t even know. You’re the one who claims to know about this shit.”
“Okay, okay. Listen, I’ve made plans already but I guess the girl can wait. Where do you wanna meet?”
Ryo had never been more glad that Jin lives by his “bros before hos” rule. “Would my place be okay?”
“Sure,” he replied. “And, Ryo-chan? Whatever you’re worrying about? Don’t. We’ll figure this out. It’s never as bad as people think.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.”
*
Jin, as promised, arrived the next day. Ryo felt a little guilty for jumping straight into the case without any pleasantries but there would be time to exchange gossip later. He explained his incident with Yamashita quickly (skipping over the embarrassing details) and what he found while browsing through Kato’s internet history.
“From what you have told me,” Jin started and took a sip from the beer that Ryo had offered when he’d arrived. “It seems we might be dealing with an incubus of some kind. There’s been an uncanny influx of them lately all around.”
“O-okay,” he replied cautiously, the name was unfamiliar to him but Ryo was relieved. They were one step closer to getting rid of it. “That tells me absolutely nothing. Is it dangerous?”
“All demons are,” he began. “According to some of the lore, incubi are fallen angels who feel from grace because of lust. In the Medieval ages in Europe, some monks…” Ryo rolled his eyes; he didn’t need to hear the whole freaking mythology. Jin noticed Ryo’s annoyance and quickly summed up. “Basically, they appear in dreams, cause sexual arousal and then feed on the energy they created. Incubi-”
“But that doesn’t make any sense! I saw it, I was attacked by it!”
Jin ignored Ryo’s outburst. “Incubi can’t possess human bodies, they’re spirits that prefer to appear in dreams so they have no real need for corporeal form,” he explained. “So, if for some reason, they need a physical form they can either reanimate a corpse or create one of their own. “
“D-does that mean that he’s possessing some poor guy’s body?”
“The poor guy was probably dead or at least comatose when it decided to jump his bones and take his body for a ride.”
“That’s…great.”
Jin didn’t note the sarcasm in Ryo’s tone. “It is, actually,” he agreed. “It has a body so it’ll make this whole thing easier for me.”
Ryo nodded his head in understanding and slumped against the back of the couch with relief. They still needed to go over the details but things were looking up a little. He could already picture it; him, as a modern age knight in shining armor saving Kato from the clutches of an evil monster and Kato falling into his arms with words of gratitude and adoration.
“So…this Kato guy,” Jin’s cheerful voice cut through his little fantasy. “You in love with him or something?”
Ryo averted his gaze and shrugged his shoulders, and hated how Jin could see right through him. “Or something.”
“Don’t you worry, Ryo-chan.” Jin clapped him on the shoulder. “Since this demon’s a guy it means you’re half-way there already, right?”
“Moron.”
*
The text came as surprise, not because Shige didn’t expect Nishikido to have his cell number but because Nishikido actually wanted anything to do with Shige after Yamashita’s little stunt. Was Nishikido pissed? He had every reason to be. But it was difficult for Shige to make anything from his message; the text was just like Nishikido was, short and to the point.
He had been reluctant to go down and meet the other man but Yamashita, with a smug smile, said that he should. So he did.
On his way downstairs he passed by an unfamiliar man that acknowledged him with a short nod and a small, comforting smile which Shige, although confused a little, returned. He found Nishikido waiting in front of his apartment building, just like he said he was, sitting on a nearby bench smoking a cigarette and looking at his watch intently.
Nishikido must have felt him staring because he lifted his head and offered small smile. Shige let himself relax; Nishikido didn’t appear to be angry. He greeted Nishikido with short nod.
“What did you want to talk about, Nishikido-kun?”
“Stuff,” he replied ambiguously and gestured the spot next to him for Shige to sit down. “Want one?” he offered when Shige sat down.
Shige didn’t usually smoke but talking was easier when he did. “Y-yes. Thank you.”
The silence was heavy and all of the sudden Shige was edgy again. “I’m really sorry for how Yamashita behaved. He’s not-“
“Don’t worry, I’m over it,” Nishikido cut in. “Besides, it’s wasn’t your fault.”
Shige was baffled how he could be over it since it happened day ago but by the look Nishikido was giving him he could tell Nishikido was telling the truth. Still, if he was okay that didn’t explain why he was there but Shige wasn’t going to dwell on it; it was nice, easy. Sitting together like this and not worrying about all the stuff that happened.
“These are good,” he commented casually after first drag, the comfortable atmosphere letting him unwind. “ I forgot how great smoking can be.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be reminded, then?” Nishikido snapped and quickly tore the cigarette from Shige’s hand and threw it on the ground. Shige gave him dumbfounded look. The sudden change of mood baffled him. He was about to ask what the hell just happened when Nishikido said, “We would want you to get addicted.”
The weird way Nishikido emphasized the word made Shige's stomach clench uncomfortably.
Shige frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he shot back, irritated.
“Don’t play dumb. I know all about your friend.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, hostile.
Nishikido didn't respond. Instead he just stole a quick glance at his watch and then at Shige's apartment building. Shige sensed that something wasn’t right and Nishikido didn’t just drop by to ‘talk’.
He jumped up like he had just been burned. “What did you do?!” he demanded, his tone accusatory.
“Trying to help you, obviously!” Nishikido screamed back, standing up to face Shige. “Seeing as you are too far gone to know how fucked-up this is!”
“I- You wouldn’t understand anyway! What I do in my free-“
“What I understand is the fact that you’d rather fuck a freaking demon than a normal person!” Nishikido replied coldly. “Tell me how that’s common sense.”
Shige knew that Nishikido was right. You didn’t need to be a genius to know that what Shige was doing with Yamashita was so not right and definitely not a typical healthy relationship. Not that he would ever admit it, especially not to Nishikido.
“Just leave me be,” he finally said and turned on his feet and rushed back to the apartment because the help Nishikido mentioned earlier didn’t sound all that helpful, and he had to get to Yamashita before something happened.
“Oh, for fuck’s-wait, Kato!” Nishikido shouted and followed quickly after him.
*
When Ryo caught up to Kato, it’s because he ran straight into him, and nearly fell to the hallway floor. He managed to retain his balance and glanced at Kato who was standing frozen in the doorway, confusion written all over his face. His eyes darted frantically between the two people inside.
Ryo followed Kato’s gaze. When Jin had offered his help, Ryo expected a lot of fighting and crazy exorcisms or something like in the movies. But inside Kato’s apartment was absolutely no fighting but a lot of hugs and smiles instead. Ryo was pretty sure it wasn’t how usual demon-dealing went.
Yamashita looked at Kato and there must have been some wordless communication involved because Kato nodded at Yamashita. The other stood up and went into what Ryo assumed was the bedroom, and Kato followed after him and closed the door behind him.
As soon as the door shut, and the initial shock wore off, Ryo pulled the front door shut as well and turned to Jin with bewildered expression.
“What’s with the people around here?!” he demanded, throwing his arms up in frustration. “Is fucking demons the new black? Why didn’t I get my memo?”
“Ryo-chan,” Jin started, hesitant. “It’s…it’s hard to explain. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I’ve had enough with this ‘you wouldn’t understand’ bullshit.” He glared at Jin. “Try me.”
Jin sighed and started talking.
*
As soon as the door closed after him Shige looked at Yamashita who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Shige joined him and grabbed the other’s hand shakily. His eyes roamed over Yamashita’s face, trying to read something, anything, but Yamashita didn’t make it easy. His face was calm and composed as always.
“What’s going on?” he asked, distressed, and he had the sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like whatever Yamashita told him next.
“I’m sorry, Shige. But I need to go with him.”
“But why? Aren’t you happy here?”
“I am Shige. You have no idea how wonderful it’s been. I was so alone before I found you,” Yamashita said, and after a pause he continued, “But before I found you, Jin and I had the same kind of relationship until his parents called for a professional’s help and I was casted out.”
Shige tried to process all of this, felt conflicted that Yamashita was more or less breaking up with him. “Is-Is he the one you’re in love with?” he asked eventually.
Yamashita nodded without hesitation and Shige didn’t know what to say more, didn’t know what he could possibly say to make Yamashita stay with him, to choose him over his long-lost love.
“And me?” Shige needed to ask. “Do you love me?”
“Shige. How can you even doubt that?” Yamashita said consolingly, and Shige saw truth in his eyes. Shige wasn’t sure if this made it worse. Yamashita squeezed his hand and explained, “But with Jin, it’s different.” He smiled. “As cheesy as it might sound we are soul mates.”
Shige looked away and sighed. How could he say no to that? “I’m going to miss you,” he said honestly.
“I know,” Yamashita said. “I’ll miss you too.” He smiled again, “But I’m happy knowing I’m not leaving you alone.” When Shige looked at him in confusion, Yamashita grinned and said, “Nishikido.”
Shige’s eyes frowned. “What about him?”
“Well, he’s not here by some bizarre accident. He was worried and scared about you enough to seek out help. That’s got to mean something, right?” Yamashita said, and Shige knew he had a point. He couldn’t deny that Nishikido’s concern had felt, well, nice. “And now that I’ll be out of the way, you two could try something together.” Yamashita smiled.
“It sounds so easy when you say it like that.” Shige sighed.
“It is,” Yamashita agreed. “Why do you always make things more complicated than they are? You like him and he obviously feels the same.”
Shige didn’t want to think about that right now. He asked instead, “Will you visit, at least?”
“I might drop by on occasion,” Yamashita said. “But before that, make me proud, Shige. You two better be fucking after I leave.”
*
It’d been almost an hour since Jin and Yamashita left the apartment. Kato was still locked inside his room. An hour that Ryo had spent trying not to think about what Jin had told him and instead had busied himself by reading random magazines he found and occasionally stealing uneasy glances towards the closed door to Kato’s bedroom. But it was getting ridiculous. He threw the magazine onto the coffee table in frustration and stood up fully intent on ending whatever unnecessary self-pitying Kato was probably wallowing in.
Ryo was half-way there when the door opened and he was met with Kato’s surprised and slightly confused look. It seemed Kato had completely forgotten that Nishikido was here.
“You’re still here?” he asked, his voice reflecting the shock in his eyes.
Ryo nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh, that’s really thoughtful,” Kato chuckled sarcastically. “Since this is all your fault.”
Kato was clearly in a hostile mood and was trying to pick a fight. Too bad, Ryo thought. He promised not to let himself be carried away and instead remained as calm and reasonable as possible.
He sighed. “Listen, Jin’s an idiot but he’s an acute idiot and…” he trailed off. He really didn’t want to get into that yet, and started over. “Kato…You’re a smart guy, but you’re naïve. You had to know that-”
“I’m not a kid, you know?” Kato snapped back and shoved past Ryo. “I damn well knew what I was doing.”
Ryo’s instinctively reached out and grabbed Kato’s arm as he started to walk away. Kato stopped dead in his tracks but didn’t turn around to face Ryo. Kato didn’t seem interested in discussing this, but Ryo wasn’t going to just let it all slide.
“Damn it, Ka - Shige,” he said, using Kato’s given name for the first time. He said it softly and could almost feel Kato tense in surprise before slowly relaxing. “Shige,” he said again, coaxingly, but when Shige still wouldn’t look at him, he sighed. “I don’t want to talk to the back of your head.”
Ryo pulled on Kato’s arm, and turned him around despite whether Kato wanted to do this or not. But Kato surprisingly didn’t put up any resistance, nor did he pull his hand away from Ryo’s grip. Now that they were face to face, the distance between them small, Ryo could see Kato’s face more clearly. His eyes were red and puffy and Ryo’s face fell and everything he’d wanted to say vanished from his mind.
“Were you crying?” he asked worriedly.
Shige rubbed at his eyes with his other hand and nodded. “A little bit, yeah,” he admitted, tired.
The sight of Shige being this vulnerable and open in front of him made Ryo’s heart hurt. He’d never seen such an expression on Kato before and hearing him admit to having cried earlier without hesitation made Ryo uncertain of what to say, or do.
Cautiously, Ryo reached out a hand and pressed his palm against the side of Shige’s neck. Kato dropped the hand from his face and looked at Ryo in surprise, but he didn’t tell him to stop nor did he move away. And this made Ryo more daring. He rubbed Shige’s cheek in comforting circles with his thumb and the blood rushed in his ears when Shige leaned into the touch slowly. Ryo licked his lips, eyes taking in Shige’s expression, gauging his reaction, and the earlier sadness seemed to be replaced by something else entirely, the same kind of emotion that was bubbling up inside Ryo’s stomach.
Ryo leaned forward, just a little, his eyes darted down to Shige’s lips, and his intention had to be clear. He gave Shige plenty of time to dodge the kiss, and when Shige didn’t, it felt a bit like Ryo’s heart had soared from his chest.
Shige’s breath hitched at the first tentative touch on Ryo’s full lips on his. He didn’t kiss back but he didn’t push him off either, so Ryo took it as a good sign. He brought Shige’s face closer, deepening the kiss and sighed contently when Shige hesitantly opened his mouth to let Ryo in. He slowly wrapped his arm around Ryo’s back and finally started to kiss back.
Ryo would be happy to just stay like this and kiss for hours but there were things that needed to be said before he could enjoy it completely. He needed to know if Shige’s reasons to kiss him were the same as his and not because he was feeling sad and lonely. Ryo couldn’t stand to be his rebound.
He slowly broke the kiss, drew a calming breath and rested his forehead against Shige’s. When he opened his eyes the other man was looking at him affectionately, a small smile gracing his lips. Ryo felt a sudden bust of courage and decided to finally man up and go along with it.
“I - I know it’s been a crazy day, for both of us,” he started carefully, and he could feel himself blushing already. “And it’s probably too soon but I -”
“I know,” Shige interrupted and Ryo’s eyes widened. He never thought he was that obvious about his feelings when he was around him. How did Shige realize when Ryo himself had such a hard time figuring it out? “Yamashita-kun told me,” Shige explained when he saw Ryo’s confused face.
Ryo frowned at the mention of the other man but tried to keep the eye-roll under control. “Of course he did,” he grit out.
Shige turned his head to the side but Ryo still could see him flushing. “I do, too,” he said timidly and buried his head in the crook of Ryo’s neck and Ryo could feel him smiling against his skin.
It was so cute that Ryo had hard time containing his glee, his heart fluttering in his chest erratically. He wrapped his arms around Shige’s waist and hugged him awkwardly, hoping that his will convey his happiness in a way that any words he could come up with right now never could.
They stayed like that, just hugging in the middle of Shige’s living room, for Ryo didn’t know how long, but he didn’t care. For him it was the perfect moment.
Eventually Kato whispered, his breath tickling Ryo’s skin, “Will you stay the night?”
Hell yes, he will. “Why?” Ryo asked calmly, he didn’t want to appear too eager after all.
“I have an assignment,” Shige responded enigmatically and untangled himself from the embrace.
He gave Ryo a smile full of promise and disappeared into his room, tossing Ryo one last look over his shoulder.
Ryo followed him without question.
He was looking forward to finding out.