Innocent Deception (Final - 2)
[Final-1]
Final Chapter (part 2)
After apologizing to Shige in having to postpone their lunch, Koyama walked with him to his car and sent him away with a sweet kiss. He went back to the office and listened to Massu’s story.
“Damn spoiled brat! We could have died!” Massu’s closing condemnation of the morning’s excursion to the mountain did not differ much from his opening comment earlier when he came storming in, with the possible exception that his tone was a tad more defensive. With Koyama chuckling openly at his detailed description of the events, Massu knew his efforts to secure a little compassion were doomed a failure.
“Your little adventure didn’t seem to hurt your vocabulary,” Koyama said, choking back his laughter. “It may be a bit limited but it seems to express your point.”
“Damn right,” Massu whirled away from the desk, striding across the office to look out the windows.
“You have to admire him though,” Koyama drawled, propping his feet on the desk as he lounged back in the leather chair. “If Yuya was trying to kill you, it doesn’t appear he minded going down with you.”
“And you admire him for that?” Massu leveled a hard stare at Koyama, working hard now to maintain the level of his anger. Without it, all that would be left in him was emptiness.
Koyama interrupted his somber thoughts. “All I know is that his driving terrifies you - happens to married couples all the time.”
“Married! I wouldn’t sleep in the same house as that little brat, much less marry him,” Turning his back on Koyama, Massu concentrated on his anger.
“Or houseboat . . . . . .” Koyama suggested, eyes studying the younger man.
“That either!” Massu swallowed hard to keep back the pain, because it was no longer a matter of pretending it didn’t hurt. It was killing him inside, the emptiness. The only thing left was his pride, making him act a part that Koyama couldn’t penetrate.
“Pity,” Koyama shook his head, his expression one of true lament. “I thought you two were destined to make magic together.”
Deliberately ignoring Koyama’s disappointment, Massu pursued the subject of the houseboat. “Not that there’s room for me on that houseboat,” he said. “With his baby sitter always around, I’m surprised he dates at all.”
“”Baby sitter?” Koyama asked.
“Yamapi,” Massu said evenly.
Working hard to keep his grin to himself, Koyama said, “I didn’t think Yamapi was with you this morning.”
“He might as well have been. Yuya doesn’t seem to do anything without checking with him first.”
“I can’t figure out if you’re mad at Yamapi or Yuya --------“
“Both!” Throwing himself into the other chair, Massu plunked his feet on the desk and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. “Yuya won’t take anyone at face value and Yamapi panders to him.”
“I don’t suppose you’d admit to a slight exaggeration?” Koyama asked, raising an eyebrow.
Snorting his dissension, Massu continued his tirade. “Anyway with the two of them putting every eligible male under a microscope, there’s not a lot of room left for trust.”
“They didn’t pin me under a lens.” Koyama said.
“You aren’t in love with Yuya ------“
“And you are?”
Massu stared hard at Koyama who was sitting in what used to be his chair, behind what used to be his desk. “In love?” He laughed harshly, wondering what had made him let it slip out. “Huh, not it I can help it!”
“That’s an iron will you got there, boss.” Koyama said.
“Inherited it from my father,” Massu said.
“And here I thought you read it from one of those self-improvement books.” Koyama commented drily.
Massu dropped his feet on the floor as he stare at Koyama. “What are you talking about now?”
Koyama shrugged. “Just saying that I hadn’t imagined that your stubbornness was inherited ---------“
“Stubbornness?” What happened to iron will?”
Koyama smiled. “Whatever.”
“I’m not being stubborn! He had Yamapi investigate me----“
“Part of the routine, I gather,” Koyama said, interrupting him. He leaned forward to flip pages of the desktop calendar.
“But I don’t have to like it.’ Massu’s anger was fading though and he realized Koyama had seen through it from the beginning.
“That’s up to you of course,” Koyama shrugged and studied the calendar with faked absorption. “But I think it’s a minor point, considering ---“
Considering how much he loved Yuya, Massu finished silently. But it was too late, because he had already made a mess of things. Still, he tried once more to convince himself that his righteous indignation was justified. “If I had been poor, things would have turned out different-----------“
“Seems to me,” Koyama said, interrupting him once again. “Either way, you’re still doing without one exciting man.” Twirling Massu’s pen between his fingers, he contemplated the younger man with almost casual indifference as he delivered the final blow. “Personally, I figure if you doubt that Yuya would love you if you were penniless, then it’s your own self-esteem that’s lacking. Putting the blame on Yuya and his relationship with Yamapi won’t make that go away.”
“Don’t pin this on me,” Massu warned, standing up in a move that was both defensive and angry. “He judged me by a set of standards that began and ended with money.”
“And by your own standards, you returned the favor.” Koyama countered.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
“Maybe I should go live with my aunt.”
Plumping a pillow against the bay window, Yuya resumed his unfocused study of the water.
“She talks to her plants,” Yamapi said dryly from behind him. Lounging comfortably on the nearby sofa with both arms resting along the back, he waited for Yuya to continue.
“So what! Lots of people talk to their plants.” Yuya replied.
“But hers talk back, according to her. You want to share a house with a woman who plans her day according to a horoscope reading she gets from her plants?”
“She’s harmless,” Yuya countered. Peeved that Yamapi was parroting his own arguments against living with his eccentric aunt, he turned his back on the window and leaned against the cushion.
“And you’re running away.” Yamapi drawled.
It wasn’t said as a reprimand, but rather as a statement-of-fact. Yuya mentally flinched and tried to keep his voice indifferent and emotionless. “Why should I run away? Massu has no interest in ever seeing me again. It’s just that living with my aunt is appealing right now.”
“I’ll tell your father you said that,” Yamapi said, then went to the crux of the matter. “And besides, it was just a fight.”
“He called me a spoiled little brat!” Chin trembling at the insult, Yuya fought back the tears that had threatened since he woke up that morning.
“You’re not spoiled?”
The rebuke was delivered with a gentle smile and Yuya lost the incentive to argue with Yamapi. “That’s beside the point,” he said. “And I happen to think spoiled is a little harsh.”
Yamapi compromised by a degree or so. “I guess we can all admit to being a bit self-indulgent on occasion.”
“Thank you,” Nodding regally at Yamapi’s concession, Yuya was unprepared for the aftershock.
“You’re just more self-indulgent than most,” Yamapi said fairly, eyebrows raised as though daring Yuya to argue. “Sharing the Jaguar would go a long way toward alleviating that tendency.”
Back on a firm ground, Yuya countered. “Fat chance, you know I don’t want anyone driving my car. Besides, I’m not mad about the spoiled part, it’s the little brat that offends me. .”
“Well, perhaps he was referring to your stature.”
Yuya’s expression instantly changed from offense to disdain. “Five foot seven isn’t little.”
“If you say so ----“
“And I’m not a little brat. I’m a man.”
“I think he knows that Yuya,” Yamapi said softly.
“I thought he understood about my sister.” Yuya wailed, still bewildered and hurt by Massu’s insensitivity.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Yamapi said gently.
“No it doesn’t, and I guess it’s too late to do things differently.” Turning to stare blankly out the window again, he was unaware of the first tears of the day that streaked down his cheeks.
“Give him a chance, Yuya.” Yamapi said.
But Yuya denied Massu that chance. He couldn’t forget how Massu had denied him his trust, even though he had demanded that Yuya trust him. “He had his chance,” he said softly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
“It’s been three weeks now,”
Yamapi and Koyama shared gloomy looks as they traipsed around the intersection and headed toward a pit stop offering water and miscellaneous other drinks.
“I thought for sure one of them would break before now,” Yamapi said, sipping his water slowly. He wanted to make sure Koyama rested a bit before they continued on with the eight kilometer race Yuya had signed them up on without their knowledge as punishment for their making fun of his paintings at Massu’s restaurant. After draining their paper cups, they continued at the easy pace they maintained throughout the charity race.
“Yuya walks out of the room everytime I mention Massu’s name,” he added.
Koyama shook his head. “Massu’s just as bad, I said something about the gallery yesterday and practically got cooked for it - on my own stove.”
“Still slamming around the place?” Yamapi asked,
“More like bouncing off walls,” Koyama said.
It had been one of the first things to happen. Massu channeled his frustration into the restaurant, butting in on the day-to-day running and generally making everyone crazy.
“He was probably a great construction boss at one time,” Koyama said, “but I fear busboys don’t respond well to his techniques.”
He told Yamapi of an incident that had resulted in total chaos, something to do with Massu’s idea of building a more convenient work area for the busboys. Unfortunately, he had decided to use restaurant labor for the minor construction, forgetting of course, that they weren’t builders by trade. By the time noon had arrived, the dining room was filled with sawdust and the clamor of hammers with Massu standing in the middle of it all wondering what the hell had gone wrong.
Yamapi was still laughing when they reached the beribboned area of the finish line. They might have been on the rear end of the race but their pride is still intact because nowhere is it written in the rules of the race that they can’t take their sweet time about it. They had spent the first half of the race thinking of ways to get even with Yuya for signing them up in the first place, which they only learned a couple of days ago when they found their confirmation letters from the organizers in the mail.
After they have considered several plans for revenge, their conversation had turned to Yuya and Massu and what should be done about them. It was obvious to even the most obtuse observer that the couple in question was entirely too stubborn for their own good.
Crossing the finish line, they wandered over to a park bench beneath the shade of an enormous tree where Ryo and Shige spent the time talking while waiting for them.
“I suppose we’re going to have to do something about them,” Sighing heavily, Yamapi reluctantly assumed the burden of decision, smiling his thanks to Ryo as he handed him a towel and a drink.
Koyama nodded in agreement, also smiling his thanks to Shige as he did the same. “It’s the only practical solution. I can’t work with Massu in the shape he’s in. At least, not in any positive direction.”
“And Yuya is cramping my style,” Yamapi said. “He’s crowding in on my time with Ryo,” he added. “He’s either at the gallery or at the houseboat. And when he’s home, he wants some company.”
“And you’d like a little privacy.” Koyama joked, smiling at the blush that crept up on Ryo’s face.
“Ryo rooms in with someone who does a lot of entertaining and the chances of privacy there are non-existent,” Yamapi said.
“So we’re back at the beginning. We need a plan that will get the two of them talking again.” Koyama replied.
Yamapi and Koyama mulled it over, with Ryo and Shige listening in. Finally taking pity on their lovers, Shige’s eyes lit up with mischievous enthusiasm, causing Koyama to cast him a questioning look.
Ryo supplied with the same expression playing on his face. “Err, we talked about your problem while you guys were out on the race.” When Yamapi raised his eyebrows at the excitement in his voice, he flushed.
“We have a decent scheme,” Shige said at the questioning look in Koyama’s eyes.
“Even an indecent scheme is worth trying,” Koyama muttered, then he and Yamapi listened as their lovers outlined the plan.
Yamapi and Koyama laughed a few minutes later. It was almost indecent but sensationally efficient, because not only will Yuya and Massu be forced to confront each other, Yuya will also get his just rewards for signing them in on the race. Yuya has made them sweat, and he in return, will get the dunking of his life.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Well, decent or not, Yuya and Massu will be back in each other’s arms after all. . . . . . . .(click here for part 3)
Final Chapter (part 2)
After apologizing to Shige in having to postpone their lunch, Koyama walked with him to his car and sent him away with a sweet kiss. He went back to the office and listened to Massu’s story.
“Damn spoiled brat! We could have died!” Massu’s closing condemnation of the morning’s excursion to the mountain did not differ much from his opening comment earlier when he came storming in, with the possible exception that his tone was a tad more defensive. With Koyama chuckling openly at his detailed description of the events, Massu knew his efforts to secure a little compassion were doomed a failure.
“Your little adventure didn’t seem to hurt your vocabulary,” Koyama said, choking back his laughter. “It may be a bit limited but it seems to express your point.”
“Damn right,” Massu whirled away from the desk, striding across the office to look out the windows.
“You have to admire him though,” Koyama drawled, propping his feet on the desk as he lounged back in the leather chair. “If Yuya was trying to kill you, it doesn’t appear he minded going down with you.”
“And you admire him for that?” Massu leveled a hard stare at Koyama, working hard now to maintain the level of his anger. Without it, all that would be left in him was emptiness.
Koyama interrupted his somber thoughts. “All I know is that his driving terrifies you - happens to married couples all the time.”
“Married! I wouldn’t sleep in the same house as that little brat, much less marry him,” Turning his back on Koyama, Massu concentrated on his anger.
“Or houseboat . . . . . .” Koyama suggested, eyes studying the younger man.
“That either!” Massu swallowed hard to keep back the pain, because it was no longer a matter of pretending it didn’t hurt. It was killing him inside, the emptiness. The only thing left was his pride, making him act a part that Koyama couldn’t penetrate.
“Pity,” Koyama shook his head, his expression one of true lament. “I thought you two were destined to make magic together.”
Deliberately ignoring Koyama’s disappointment, Massu pursued the subject of the houseboat. “Not that there’s room for me on that houseboat,” he said. “With his baby sitter always around, I’m surprised he dates at all.”
“”Baby sitter?” Koyama asked.
“Yamapi,” Massu said evenly.
Working hard to keep his grin to himself, Koyama said, “I didn’t think Yamapi was with you this morning.”
“He might as well have been. Yuya doesn’t seem to do anything without checking with him first.”
“I can’t figure out if you’re mad at Yamapi or Yuya --------“
“Both!” Throwing himself into the other chair, Massu plunked his feet on the desk and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. “Yuya won’t take anyone at face value and Yamapi panders to him.”
“I don’t suppose you’d admit to a slight exaggeration?” Koyama asked, raising an eyebrow.
Snorting his dissension, Massu continued his tirade. “Anyway with the two of them putting every eligible male under a microscope, there’s not a lot of room left for trust.”
“They didn’t pin me under a lens.” Koyama said.
“You aren’t in love with Yuya ------“
“And you are?”
Massu stared hard at Koyama who was sitting in what used to be his chair, behind what used to be his desk. “In love?” He laughed harshly, wondering what had made him let it slip out. “Huh, not it I can help it!”
“That’s an iron will you got there, boss.” Koyama said.
“Inherited it from my father,” Massu said.
“And here I thought you read it from one of those self-improvement books.” Koyama commented drily.
Massu dropped his feet on the floor as he stare at Koyama. “What are you talking about now?”
Koyama shrugged. “Just saying that I hadn’t imagined that your stubbornness was inherited ---------“
“Stubbornness?” What happened to iron will?”
Koyama smiled. “Whatever.”
“I’m not being stubborn! He had Yamapi investigate me----“
“Part of the routine, I gather,” Koyama said, interrupting him. He leaned forward to flip pages of the desktop calendar.
“But I don’t have to like it.’ Massu’s anger was fading though and he realized Koyama had seen through it from the beginning.
“That’s up to you of course,” Koyama shrugged and studied the calendar with faked absorption. “But I think it’s a minor point, considering ---“
Considering how much he loved Yuya, Massu finished silently. But it was too late, because he had already made a mess of things. Still, he tried once more to convince himself that his righteous indignation was justified. “If I had been poor, things would have turned out different-----------“
“Seems to me,” Koyama said, interrupting him once again. “Either way, you’re still doing without one exciting man.” Twirling Massu’s pen between his fingers, he contemplated the younger man with almost casual indifference as he delivered the final blow. “Personally, I figure if you doubt that Yuya would love you if you were penniless, then it’s your own self-esteem that’s lacking. Putting the blame on Yuya and his relationship with Yamapi won’t make that go away.”
“Don’t pin this on me,” Massu warned, standing up in a move that was both defensive and angry. “He judged me by a set of standards that began and ended with money.”
“And by your own standards, you returned the favor.” Koyama countered.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
“Maybe I should go live with my aunt.”
Plumping a pillow against the bay window, Yuya resumed his unfocused study of the water.
“She talks to her plants,” Yamapi said dryly from behind him. Lounging comfortably on the nearby sofa with both arms resting along the back, he waited for Yuya to continue.
“So what! Lots of people talk to their plants.” Yuya replied.
“But hers talk back, according to her. You want to share a house with a woman who plans her day according to a horoscope reading she gets from her plants?”
“She’s harmless,” Yuya countered. Peeved that Yamapi was parroting his own arguments against living with his eccentric aunt, he turned his back on the window and leaned against the cushion.
“And you’re running away.” Yamapi drawled.
It wasn’t said as a reprimand, but rather as a statement-of-fact. Yuya mentally flinched and tried to keep his voice indifferent and emotionless. “Why should I run away? Massu has no interest in ever seeing me again. It’s just that living with my aunt is appealing right now.”
“I’ll tell your father you said that,” Yamapi said, then went to the crux of the matter. “And besides, it was just a fight.”
“He called me a spoiled little brat!” Chin trembling at the insult, Yuya fought back the tears that had threatened since he woke up that morning.
“You’re not spoiled?”
The rebuke was delivered with a gentle smile and Yuya lost the incentive to argue with Yamapi. “That’s beside the point,” he said. “And I happen to think spoiled is a little harsh.”
Yamapi compromised by a degree or so. “I guess we can all admit to being a bit self-indulgent on occasion.”
“Thank you,” Nodding regally at Yamapi’s concession, Yuya was unprepared for the aftershock.
“You’re just more self-indulgent than most,” Yamapi said fairly, eyebrows raised as though daring Yuya to argue. “Sharing the Jaguar would go a long way toward alleviating that tendency.”
Back on a firm ground, Yuya countered. “Fat chance, you know I don’t want anyone driving my car. Besides, I’m not mad about the spoiled part, it’s the little brat that offends me. .”
“Well, perhaps he was referring to your stature.”
Yuya’s expression instantly changed from offense to disdain. “Five foot seven isn’t little.”
“If you say so ----“
“And I’m not a little brat. I’m a man.”
“I think he knows that Yuya,” Yamapi said softly.
“I thought he understood about my sister.” Yuya wailed, still bewildered and hurt by Massu’s insensitivity.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Yamapi said gently.
“No it doesn’t, and I guess it’s too late to do things differently.” Turning to stare blankly out the window again, he was unaware of the first tears of the day that streaked down his cheeks.
“Give him a chance, Yuya.” Yamapi said.
But Yuya denied Massu that chance. He couldn’t forget how Massu had denied him his trust, even though he had demanded that Yuya trust him. “He had his chance,” he said softly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
“It’s been three weeks now,”
Yamapi and Koyama shared gloomy looks as they traipsed around the intersection and headed toward a pit stop offering water and miscellaneous other drinks.
“I thought for sure one of them would break before now,” Yamapi said, sipping his water slowly. He wanted to make sure Koyama rested a bit before they continued on with the eight kilometer race Yuya had signed them up on without their knowledge as punishment for their making fun of his paintings at Massu’s restaurant. After draining their paper cups, they continued at the easy pace they maintained throughout the charity race.
“Yuya walks out of the room everytime I mention Massu’s name,” he added.
Koyama shook his head. “Massu’s just as bad, I said something about the gallery yesterday and practically got cooked for it - on my own stove.”
“Still slamming around the place?” Yamapi asked,
“More like bouncing off walls,” Koyama said.
It had been one of the first things to happen. Massu channeled his frustration into the restaurant, butting in on the day-to-day running and generally making everyone crazy.
“He was probably a great construction boss at one time,” Koyama said, “but I fear busboys don’t respond well to his techniques.”
He told Yamapi of an incident that had resulted in total chaos, something to do with Massu’s idea of building a more convenient work area for the busboys. Unfortunately, he had decided to use restaurant labor for the minor construction, forgetting of course, that they weren’t builders by trade. By the time noon had arrived, the dining room was filled with sawdust and the clamor of hammers with Massu standing in the middle of it all wondering what the hell had gone wrong.
Yamapi was still laughing when they reached the beribboned area of the finish line. They might have been on the rear end of the race but their pride is still intact because nowhere is it written in the rules of the race that they can’t take their sweet time about it. They had spent the first half of the race thinking of ways to get even with Yuya for signing them up in the first place, which they only learned a couple of days ago when they found their confirmation letters from the organizers in the mail.
After they have considered several plans for revenge, their conversation had turned to Yuya and Massu and what should be done about them. It was obvious to even the most obtuse observer that the couple in question was entirely too stubborn for their own good.
Crossing the finish line, they wandered over to a park bench beneath the shade of an enormous tree where Ryo and Shige spent the time talking while waiting for them.
“I suppose we’re going to have to do something about them,” Sighing heavily, Yamapi reluctantly assumed the burden of decision, smiling his thanks to Ryo as he handed him a towel and a drink.
Koyama nodded in agreement, also smiling his thanks to Shige as he did the same. “It’s the only practical solution. I can’t work with Massu in the shape he’s in. At least, not in any positive direction.”
“And Yuya is cramping my style,” Yamapi said. “He’s crowding in on my time with Ryo,” he added. “He’s either at the gallery or at the houseboat. And when he’s home, he wants some company.”
“And you’d like a little privacy.” Koyama joked, smiling at the blush that crept up on Ryo’s face.
“Ryo rooms in with someone who does a lot of entertaining and the chances of privacy there are non-existent,” Yamapi said.
“So we’re back at the beginning. We need a plan that will get the two of them talking again.” Koyama replied.
Yamapi and Koyama mulled it over, with Ryo and Shige listening in. Finally taking pity on their lovers, Shige’s eyes lit up with mischievous enthusiasm, causing Koyama to cast him a questioning look.
Ryo supplied with the same expression playing on his face. “Err, we talked about your problem while you guys were out on the race.” When Yamapi raised his eyebrows at the excitement in his voice, he flushed.
“We have a decent scheme,” Shige said at the questioning look in Koyama’s eyes.
“Even an indecent scheme is worth trying,” Koyama muttered, then he and Yamapi listened as their lovers outlined the plan.
Yamapi and Koyama laughed a few minutes later. It was almost indecent but sensationally efficient, because not only will Yuya and Massu be forced to confront each other, Yuya will also get his just rewards for signing them in on the race. Yuya has made them sweat, and he in return, will get the dunking of his life.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Well, decent or not, Yuya and Massu will be back in each other’s arms after all. . . . . . . .(click here for part 3)