Ugh. I think, from paging through my manga, that *Raiha* is the one crushing on *Fuko*, not the other way around. *groans* Buuuuuut.... Well, I needed a way to start this fic, and I still donÕt know how things go on the anime series, so here it is. @.@;; (Although, this might work better with the manga boys - since in the manga Tokiya is WAY prettier than Raiha, not the other way around! ^_^;; Yikes! Mentally, I'm sort of combining an image of both versions. Heh.)

A Need to Know
by Kuwabara no Miko

Raiha blew out a rough sigh. This was why he hated venturing near the hotel housing the Ura Buto Satsujin contestants -- that Kirisawa girl was giving him those long, longing looks again as he paced through the wooded area she and her teammate were training in. But Kurei's orders took precedence over his own comfort, and when he sent Raiha to the hotel, Raiha went to the hotel. He'd had fair luck delivering his message, but now on his way back to the castle, he'd run into the Kirisawa-menace. At least she was not acting on the crush she had obviously developed. Hn. If only she knew.... But, really, it was for the better that she didn't. Very much so.

Ishijima-kun shot Raiha an unfriendly glance but as the Uhura team member was only walking peacefully, minding his own business, the large teen could not start anything without looking like a bully. Never mind that Raiha could easily flatten the inexperienced, undisciplined fighter; he was attractive and willowy where Ishijima was all blunt edges and possessing of looks that could most generously be termed 'craggy'. If Ishijima picked a fight, whether he won or lost he would come out looking bad and he full well knew it.

Instead, he turned back to his distracted sparring opponent and charged, evidently deciding to punish Kirisawa for her mooning, in place of being able to beat on the subject of said mooning.

Raiha watched in mild surprise as the girl pounded the ape into the turf in spite of her preoccupation. She was actually pretty good, with a lithe, well-formed young body and blazing blue eyes. Unfortunately for her obvious fascination, Raiha had no interest in females in general. So her crush, strong or slight as it might be, had been doomed from the first.

Turning his back on the stridently arguing teenagers, Raiha paced smoothly on his way. The castle was small shelter, but at least there he felt at home. No dazed high school girls giving him fawn-eyes, no angry young men who viewed him as a rival. True, there was Kurei, but over the years Raiha had grown adept at dealing with Kurei. There was slight danger there -- as long as he retained an appearance of loyalty -- and no annoyances like the ones behind him.

Raiha wondered how Koganei dealt with such a group of cretins. Except for the undying one and Mikagami Tokiya, Team Hokage was woefully short on brains and maturity. Even Ganbo and Sakoshita Yanagi were too innocent to play any sort of foil to Koganei's sparking sense of mischief and ready wit. And the fox, for all his personality and brashness, was really only a toy.

Well, Raiha supposed anything could be endured so long as Koganei had his 'Mikagami no niichan'. And he *had* Mikagami, that much was certain! There was no mistaking the truth of their relationship, even though the rest of their teammates seemed oblivious. Nothing brotherly there -- Mikagami must have gotten over the issue of age, no doubt with Koganei's determined 'help'. Raiha himself had been in the same position a bemused Mikagami now discovered himself in, and so he could see as clearly as through Ensui's blade, what there was between the two. He supposed it was for the best. Koganei needed--

Raiha blinked, coming to a stop, golden eyes widening as one of the subjects of his intent pondering suddenly stepped from the bushes before him. He displayed no other semblance of surprise, but the truth was, he had been completely unaware of Mikagami Tokiya's presence until the young man had made it known.

Mikagami was good....

"Raiha."

His name spoken softly, in that dangerous, slightly nasal voice, made Raiha blink again. "Nanda, Mikagami-san?" he queried, remaining perfectly still as the other young man took three steadfast strides forward, coming to stand before him. He betrayed no emotion, gave no aspect to his engaged curiosity. Neither did Mikagami's pale, angular face display any expression whatsoever.

"Ooo~ii! Mikagami!!"

"Mi-chan!! Whatcha doin'?!"

Those chill, ice-blue eyes flickered briefly over Raiha's shoulder, but Mikagami otherwise ignored his team members' loud yells, focusing instead on the soft liquid gold orbs that gazed fixedly back at him.

"Raiha. I want to ask you for something. For Koganei."

Straight black brows knit beneath the white headband. "For... Koganei?"

"Aa." Tokiya nodded sharply. Raiha noted absently that Tokiya's long, silver-grey hair was caught at the nape of his neck in a long tail rather than tied up in the samurai's topknot he preferred while fighting. As well, the usually over-dressed young man was wearing a white teeshirt and jeans that might be more fitting for Hanabishi, or even Koganei. But mostly, Raiha wondered over Mikagami's words.

"What is it...?" Raiha asked suspiciously, turning his head to the side and narrowing his eyes. Did Mikagami know about his own past... encounters... with the young bearer of the Kougon Anki? Was this some roundabout way of gaining revenge? But Mikagami wasn't the sort to be underhanded about things. He would be more likely to be straightforward in his attack. So what...?

Mikagami said nothing further, just held up his left hand. Raiha squinted in confusion at the small foil square in his slim fingers, then his eyes rounded as recognition struck, his mouth dropping open in manifest shock.

"Kore... kore wa...!"

Mikagami's pale lips twisted up at one corner in something that only resembled a smile, as he flickered the condom through his fingers, fisting it before the two teens still gawking a few yards behind Raiha could make out what it was. One thin brow lifted.

"Well?"

Raiha blinked furiously, swallowing, his mouth suddenly dry. Mikagami couldn't be suggesting what it seemed like he was suggesting... could he? "You... what do you...?"

"Show me."

Raiha blinked down at the proffered palm, the tiny silver square settled in its center. The slim package seemed so inconsequential in appearance, and yet it bore a weight far beyond its physical manifestation. He stared a long moment, mind racing.

Mikagami must be offering what it looked like he was offering. There was no other explanation. But why?! If he had Koganei....

Well, maybe Mikagami's feelings for Koganei didn't go as deeply as Raiha had thought.

But even if so, why Raiha? And why like this?

There were too many questions, and Raiha knew instinctively that Mikagami would give him no answers, even if he verbalized them. There was only one way he was going to discover the truth behind this strange proposition.

Without a sign of the hesitancy that filled him, Raiha reached forward and lifted the condom from Mikagami's open hand. This was insane, but it was happening, and somehow this seemed the only course to take. Because Raiha needed to know....

...Why?

...For Koganei....

With an odd flare of his pale eyes, Mikagami fell to stand beside Raiha, gesturing toward the castle. Ah. Souka. They certainly couldn't go back to the hotel room Mikagami was sharing with Koganei. Raiha nodded briskly, and set off once more on his way. Back to the castle. Back to his quarters. With Mikagami a silent, silvery shadow behind him. He fisted the accusatory foil packet tightly.

This... was... insane.

***

Tokiya watched with flat eyes as Raiha carefully closed the door behind him, engaging the lock with slim, steady fingers. It hadn't been so very difficult to get into the castle undetected. There were cameras everywhere, but they were easy enough to avoid. Most of the Uhura -- those left living -- were out pursuing their own pleasures, the regular staff discretely inconspicuous. It really was better if no one was aware of this fraternization. Tokiya would leave this place as carefully as he had entered.

He would not be leaving for a while, though. Not if Raiha followed through on their tacit agreement. There was a distinct purpose behind Tokiya's actions, and he knew that Raiha wished to know what it was. But he was not going to give his reason over that easily. First he intended to get what he had come for.

Raiha turned from the door, a moment of uncertainty softening his burnished gold eyes, blurring the gentle lines of his face.

Tokiya wasn't about to let the other young man change his mind. Ignoring the wide bed behind him, he stepped to where Raiha stood, clasping one hand over the fingers still fisted about the silver-foil packet, his free arm going to curl around the other man's neck in a manner that could not be mistaken, drawing their faces close together, their straight, slim bodies a hairsbreadth from touching, clothing whispering against clothing. He made no move beyond this, his slanted ice-cold eyes conveying subtle challenge, but otherwise remaining passive. Waiting.

The word 'why?' hovered on Raiha's lips. Tokiya could sense it, could almost see it. But they both knew full well Tokiya would not be answering. So, instead, Raiha licked his lips in a manner not *quite* nervous, fitted a steady arm to the small of Tokiya's back, and tilted his head at the same time he moved it forward, so that their mouths met easily in a light, electric brush.

Tokiya parted his lips under the soft, overly-gentle kiss, this invitation noted and accepted as Raiha's mouth closed more firmly on his own, warm lips and probing tongue plundering him thoroughly. He returned the gesture, twining his tongue about Raiha's, but never venturing beyond his own lips, never trying to wrest control of the kiss from Raiha. He was a willing participant, but Raiha was the instigator. That was how Tokiya wished it to be and so that was how it was.

Finally Raiha drew back, sealed lips parting with a moist sound, breath washing a bit harshly between them. "You taste like Koganei," he commented softly, gold eyes gleaming with some strange emotion.

"Hn." Tokiya's mouth curled up at one corner, his full, normally colorless lips stained from the pressure of the kiss, his cheeks faintly flushed already, although his eyes were as cold as ever. He offered no response, and, really, there wasn't any needed or desired.

Stepping back, Tokiya moved easily to the side of the bed. With brisk, expedient movements, he stripped off his teeshirt, folding it and putting it on the seat of the chair near the bed. He reached briefly in the pocket of his jeans, withdrawing a slim tube, which he placed on the small bedside table, then sure hands unfastened his fly and his jeans followed the teeshirt, also neatly and precisely folded. Black bikini cut briefs were a stark contrast against the pale skin, an interesting counterpoint to the baggy white boxers that Raiha knew Koganei wore. These, too, swiftly joined the other clothing, and Tokiya stood tall and proud beside the bed, unashamedly naked, waiting.

Raiha caught his breath slightly. Mikagami's body was something new; lean and rangy, not a spare inch of fat and barely enough muscle to stretch over the bones. He possessed an odd, lanky grace that was not held within Koganei's tiny, spritely body or Kurei's more mature, muscular form. Even Raiha was not so slender yet strong at once, and he marveled over the fact that this mixture befit Mikagami's personality so well.

There was a distinct challenge in those gleaming pale eyes, in the angle of that silver-grey head, expectation coloring the hard planes of Tokiya's face. There was to be no turning back.

With a little huffing sigh, Raiha gave in completely, slowly stripping away his own rather archaic clothing as he paced toward the bed... and the waiting young man. The foil in his palm crinkled, and with an irritated look, he flicked it toward Tokiya before he paused to pull down his pants.

Tokiya gave the condom a curious look, as though he had forgotten its existence, then dropped it carelessly on the table, beside the tube of what was doubtless lubricant of some kind.

Raiha straightened, naked now, eyes flaring with what was almost anger. Mikagami had said this was for Koganei! *How* could this be for Koganei?! *How* could cheating on the tiny fighter with one of his own former lovers benefit Kaoru?!

"Here?" Tokiya indicated the mattress with a graceful hand. "Or here?" The smooth wooden floor beside the sweep of bedspread overhang.

Raiha frowning in confusion, wondering why Mikagami was asking. He knew there had to be a reason; Mikagami never did *anything* without a damn good reason! But discerning that reason was beyond Raiha's ability when he did not even know the cause for which Mikagami was doing this in the first place. With no knowledge of Mikagami's objective, Raiha's choice was fairly simple. Comfort was preferable. "There." He pointed at the bed.

"Aa." With a graceful folding of lean limbs, Tokiya dropped backwards, lifting his legs up onto the wide mattress and scooting to the pillows, never breaking eye contact with Raiha.

Moving with spare, liquid motions, Raiha joined him. There was no false modesty or feigned coyness between the two young men. This was about sex and both knew it.

Mikagami released a slight sigh as he pulled Raiha's bare body down atop his own. Raiha glanced up, but could see no hint of hesitance in that hard, pale face. The ice-blue of Mikagami's eyes was intent, frosted with concentration, as though this were another battle, not a sexual coupling. Raiha almost shook his head. Instead, he bent to press his lips against the delicate curves of bone and soft flesh at the hollow of Mikagami's throat, drawing forth a small intake of breath as he sent his skillful mouth playing over the tender spot.

Mikagami tasted of Koganei here, as well.

Raiha closed his eyes and took in the taste, texture, scent of Mikagami's supple skin, moving in random patterns over the slim expanse of his neck and jaw. Mikagami tilted his head back obligingly, powerful fingers dancing over Raiha's smooth back.

Raiha settled fully between Mikagami's lean thighs, noting that there was little response as yet to his ministrations, though he himself was already hard. But perhaps that might be attributed more to the musk of Koganei that Mikagami's body retained, even distant from his small lover, than to Mikagami himself. Not that Raiha did not find Mikagami attractive. They would not be here, on his bed, naked, in this entwined position, if he did not find the younger man desirable in at least some sense.

This could not continue -- he had to do something to arouse Mikagami. It was a matter of pride! Raiha didn't have as much pride as some members of the Uhura... but if a beautiful young man came to him seeking sex, that beautiful young man was going to get sex! And Raiha considered that he had a certain amount of skill in this field.

Nimble fingers moved over smooth, pale flesh, stroking, pressing, lightly scratching, playing Tokiya's body as though it were a familiar instrument. This experience was hard-won, but well and thoroughly learned, and Tokiya's breath quickened as Raiha's tongue traced the outline of his navel, his body reacting swiftly now.

"You touch me like he does," he whispered, head shifting against the pillow, one hand still resting against Raiha's shoulder, the other having gone to clutch the sheets beside him.

Raiha glanced up, frowning. It was as though the shade of Koganei was in this bed with them, entangled in both their bodies, in their minds, even though the boy himself was far absent. Well, what else was to be expected; the tiny former member of the Uhura, current fighter on Team Hokage, was really the only thing the two of them had in common.

"Why?" Raiha asked, sitting up, face twisting with frustration. He had to know before he could go further -- he couldn't wait! There were too many unanswered questions. "Don't you care about him at all?" he accused, gold eyes flashing.

Mikagami stared back, the cool opal-blue of his gaze quelling much of Raiha's anger, as though Mikagami had used the water he so masterfully controlled to douse a fire. "I love him," he replied calmly, voice level. Emotionless. But the intensity hardening his pale eyes left no room for doubt in Raiha's mind.

Raiha sucked in a breath, feeling equal parts relief and frustration. It was good to know Mikagami cared, that he... loved. But then, *why* was he doing this?!

Raiha knew he would get no more answers as Mikagami shot him a challenging look and deliberately rolled over onto his stomach, curling his arms under his chin.

Molten eyes flickered. For all Mikagami's bluntness thus far Raiha was still startled by the directness of this action.

Well, he wouldn't let Mikagami have it all his own way. Even though the sight of those lean, perfect buttocks sent a shivery-hot throb through his own groin, Raiha resolved not to let Mikagami dictate to him how he would be pleasured.

Stretching out beside that strange amalgamation of bone and muscle and sinew and pale, ice-white flesh that had been build solely to act as a weapon, certainly meant for nothing so earthly as the motions they were enacting now, that was so curiously beautiful in its simplicity, Raiha reached for the tie holding Mikagami's silken hair. This was a trifling action, but Raiha suddenly had a desire to turn this encounter into something beyond an emotionless sexual joining. Mikagami Tokiya was Koganei Kaoru's lover. In some odd, roundabout way, Raiha was gaining one last chance to get close to the small "traitor" he could never be this near again. Never flesh on flesh, quickened breath, and united bodies... never again with Koganei, but Mikagami was here, on his bed, naked and willing and beautiful....

Besides, as impersonal an undertaking as Mikagami seemed to be trying to make this, there was still that matter of pride. Raiha wasn't going to rush a encounter that was not meant to be rushed, just because his partner wanted it. Not when he knew he could do better than that.

He examined Mikagami's cold profile as he unbound that long hair -- probably about the same length as his own -- and sent it tumbling over the sharp planes of that slim back, like a waterfall flowing over marble. Mikagami kept his eyes fixed forward, lids heavy, chill gaze never flickering toward Raiha.

Raiha did not mind. Bending forward, one hand running through the shivering sweep of silvery hair, he pressed his mouth warmly to one bony shoulder. With sure hands and moist lips, he worked the lines and curves of Mikagami's back, making his way through the veiling curtain of silken hair that fell all the way to tickle Mikagami's upper thighs.

Tokiya was clutching the pillow before him, head lowered, breath coming in soft pants by the time Raiha nuzzled his soft face against the hollow of his lower back. He shifted against the sheets, a small sound of entreaty escaping his throat before he could stop it. It had only been a couple of minutes, but it seemed much longer to his over-sensitized mind and body, and Raiha's deliberate teasing was beginning to get to him.

Raiha sent his tongue to play over the stark relief of Mikagami's spine as it dipped down to join his pelvis, then sat up, smiling slightly, satisfied that he had succeed in dragging a response from the reluctant Mikagami. Now matters could continue as Mikagami had desired.

Leaning over to the bedside table, Raiha ignored the tube Mikagami had placed in its surface, instead opening the small, shallow drawer in the front and withdrawing a little jar. He preferred his own oils, the scent specifically blended for him. True, the aroma reminded him forcefully of Koganei, as he twisted off the lid, but that was what this was about, wasn't it? Mikagami had said this was for Koganei, whatever that had meant, and Raiha was grasping for something that had already slipped through his fumbling hands. To be reminded of Koganei wasn't such a bad thing. Not now, not in this bizarre situation.

Raiha trailed a gleaming finger down the crease of those small, tight buttocks, then sent his slick fingers chasing between the cheeks, seeking out and caressing carefully over the delicate surface of Mikagami's entrance, listening to the sharp catch in the younger man's breathing, watching his head sink into the pillows, shoulders hunching, though he was obviously struggling to keep his body relaxed. He had already assumed this was Mikagami's first time... this way... and the reactions he was drawing only served to convince him fully. He would go carefully, then.

Tokiya let out an explosive breath that sounded almost like a protest as Raiha removed his hand briefly, renewing it at the jar, before inserting one slim finger deeply within the pulsing heat of Tokiya's body. Tokiya tensed involuntarily, a thin keening sound breaking from his chest, stifled in the fullness of the pillow but unrestrained.

Raiha did not rejoice in gaining this response. His own breath was closed in his throat, sweat beginning to bead his brow, as he bit his tongue in concentration. Mikagami was such a beautiful beast beneath his hands, and it was going to require all his will to do this slowly enough that he did not harm Mikagami, that he provided Mikagami with the same amount of pleasure that he was going to be taking from this glorious body.

Raiha marveled over the tightness clutching at his finger. Even Koganei had not been this tight; not after Kurei was finished with him, anyway. It made him a little anxious, but this was what Mikagami had asked for, what they both wanted, and Mikagami was already beginning to adjust, shoulders unknotting, hips shifting as he let out an unconscious sound of entreaty. Raiha caught his breath. He was not built to resist such temptation.

Careful not to scratch with his nail, he pressed a second finger in, having to force it slightly to get through the natural resistance, but once inside Mikagami's body it was as welcome as the first. Patience pushed to the breaking point, Raiha did not wait beyond a moment or two before driving in a third finger, stretching Mikagami perhaps a bit abruptly, but it was either this or enter him before he was prepared. And even through the urgency he was feeling, Raiha had no desire to cause Mikagami pain, to perhaps damage him.

Tokiya stiffened beneath the unexpected assault, but it was achieved as quickly as he realized what was happening, and with only a sharp cry and one buck of his hips, he held still, breathing heavily, waiting for his scattered thoughts to catch up to the overwhelming sensations rolling over him.

Raiha bit his lower lip, slightly regretting that he had rushed this, but hyper-aware of the muscles clenching in sharp pulses about his fingers, of the wild, unsatisfied throb settled at his own groin. With a firming of his resolve, he began carefully working his hand in echo of the thrusts he would soon be enacting with another portion of his body, working at the taut ring gripping his intruding fingers, spending just a few more agonizing moments in a last attempt to prepare Mikagami for their final joining.

Seemingly adjusted already, Mikagami moved languidly beneath this rhythmic penetration, pressing down against the mattress then back to meet Raiha's hand, hips rolling in slow beats, fingers tight on the softness of the pillows as small sounds of pleasure broke from his throat in an incoherent stream. Raiha swallowed dryly, a firestorm of passion raging through him, searing away all thoughts, at the erotic picture presented by this strange creature that had come to him, seeking exactly what he was getting.

There could be no more delay. Raiha freed his fingers, only urged on by the small, bereft moan this wrenched from Mikagami, and quickly coated his ready shaft with oil, nearly spilling the jar on the sheets -- it wouldn't have been the first time he'd done that -- before he managed to get it set on the bedside table.

His eyes flickered briefly over the foil packet beside the jar, but it was too late now, and the thing had already achieved its purpose, bringing the two of them to this point. Raiha supposed Mikagami might be pissed he hadn't used it by the time they finished, but his mind was consumed by the now, his body tense and ready and then he was draped atop Mikagami's lithe frame, knees between those tight thighs, bending over the younger man as he sought out that spot once more, this time with the slicked tip of his penis, breath gusting against the sweat-dewed flesh of Mikagami's shoulder.

With a guttural noise of hunger, Tokiya rocked up on his knees slightly, pressing back against that questing hardness, shiver-shocks of stimulation breaking through his body as Raiha thrust deeply within him in one sure stroke. Tokiya convulsed, crying out, pain and singing pleasure shattering together in a crazy, unbearable whole. He shoved back wildly, wanting more of that burning, liquid sensation, wanting to be speared, opened, driven to the edge of forever by the blunt length of Raiha's cock... just breathlessly wanting *more*!

Raiha groaned, falling down atop the lean writhing form beneath him, clasping his arms close about that slim waist, bracing his knees and forcing himself as deeply into Mikagami's body as he could, burying himself to the root in that mindblowing heat and tightness, at the moment unable to care whether he was hurting or giving pleasure, not with the raging flames of pure ecstasy roaring through his mind and flesh, though he was pretty certain that from the sounds and motions emerging from the other youth that Mikagami was as immersed in the realm of sexual rapture as he was.

The coupling was hard and urgent, bordering on violent, and it was not long before Tokiya stiffened with a sharp cry, spilling into the sheets beneath his belly, warm wetness flowering through the material as similar heat fountained through his mind and limbs, granting him a moment of sheer transport, driving him beyond thought, beyond experience, into a quiet white-dark cradle of pure existence, where he *became* the pleasure, did not merely feel it.

Raiha lost control as those closely caressing muscles tightened impossibly about his engorged length, pulling a thin keening sound from his throat as he climaxed, spilling deeply within Mikagami's body. He tumbled bonelessly atop the other young man, a tangle of midnight and silver hair clinging to sweat-soaked bodies, slim chests heaving for breath, slender limbs entangled.

Tokiya gave a small, disgruntled noise as he returned to his senses and realized he was laying in a definite wet spot. He shoved, rolling them both over, Raiha slipping easily to the side, still wrapped about him, hot breath washing over his shoulder in a manner more comforting than irritating.

Soft lips brushed against his damp flesh. Tokiya sighed, feeling heavy, sated, sleepy.... But this was not the time or place to fall asleep.

"Raiha...."

"Mm?"

Tokiya winced as Raiha withdrew from his embracing body, the slight tug, the feeling of emptiness, then the thin trickle of heat running a line down his thigh seeming to underscore the stinging discomfort that remained after being stretched and opened in a manner he was unaccustomed to. Not that it hadn't been worth it....

Tokiya contemplated the slim yet powerful arm still wrapped around his waist.

"Did you hold him too?" he whispered quietly, voice husked with echoes of pleasure, throat thick with the beginnings of emotion.

"I.... N-nani?" Raiha sounded confused, tensing and moving to pull his arm away.

Tokiya gripped his wrist tightly, refusing to allow the other young man to retreat in any way. "I asked you... did you hold him too? After you'd taken your pleasure... did you hold him through the night? Keep the nightmares away? Keep him from being alone?"

Raiha's breath caught. "O-of course!" Was that what this had been about?! Masaka. If Mikagami had wanted to know these things, he would have just asked. No need for elaborate seduction -- there had to be another reason.

"Yokatta," Tokiya breathed softly, loosing his fingers and lifting his hand to knuckle sweat-damp bangs from his eyes. He pulled decisively away and sat up.

"Mikagami...."

"Un?" Tokiya scooted to the edge of the bed, wincing a little as his rear pressed against the mattress. He grimaced, eyeing the condom still laying on the bedside table, but it was a little late now. He'd really meant for Raiha to use it, but.... He blew out an exasperated breath.

"Mikagami." He could hear the rustle as Raiha sat up behind him, the mattress shifting beneath his sore behind. He glanced over his shoulder, an unconsciously sexy figure, long silvery-grey hair falling down his lean back, slanted ice-blue eyes heavy-lidded with pleasure, his pale cheeks still lightly flushed. Raiha caught his breath, then leaned back against the pillows, his own dark hair tumbling about his soft face, molten gold eyes piercing in their intensity as he examined the boy he had just had sex with. This was the moment he had been waiting for. "Why?"

Mikagami just looked back calmly, not seeming ready to talk yet.

"You... you love him... don't you?" Raiha asked, swallowing thickly, trying to remind himself that Koganei would be better with this youth, better with someone who cared, who *could* care and could do something about it, didn't have to hide the emotions from the tiny young warrior. "You said you did...."

"I do," Mikagami answered softly, never breaking eye contact. He spoke no further words, expressed no irritation at being questioned again about something he had already declared, his face completely devoid of emotion. But Raiha was certain, as before, that he spoke the entire truth.

"Then... why this?" Raiha waved a helpless hand to indicate the crumpled, sex-stained sheets, the arena of their intense joining only minutes ago. "Why...?"

Mikagami almost smiled. His mouth remained a firm line, but his eyes crinkled slightly a moment, before he rose, retrieving his carefully folded clothing. "I needed to know."

"N-nanda?" Raiha was confused yet again. He was beginning to wonder if *anyone* understood the workings of Mikagami's mind -- even Mikagami himself!

"I needed to know," Mikagami repeated, stifling a wince as he pulled on his jeans and fastened them. "I needed to know how you took him."

Raiha's eyes widened. Souka! Now he could see why Mikagami had given him a choice between the bed and the floor. He hadn't known the cause at the time, but now it was clear.

Mikagami continued tonelessly. "I needed to know what you felt for him. Whether you held him. I needed to know that you had cared."

"Cared..." Raiha whispered, staring down at the wrinkles in the sheets cinched about his waist. "I cared...."

"And I needed to know...."

"Nani?" Raiha looked up, blinking curiously at Mikagami as he pulled his teeshirt over his head, grasping handfuls of loose hair and tugging them out over the collar. Mikagami had a decidedly twisted way of going about things, but in some strange way, Raiha could understand what had motivated him, why he had done what he had done. He cocked his dark head. "What else did you need to know?"

Tokiya colored brightly, shifting uncomfortably. "I needed to know what it was like.... What it was like... to be... t-taken. What he feels when I take him." His cheeks burning crimson, Tokiya spun quickly away from the bed and moved toward the door.

"Mikagami!"

Mikagami turned and cocked his head. Raiha opened his mouth, but no words would emerge. He didn't know what to say. It felt wrong to just let Mikagami walk out like this, but what other course was there to take? There was nothing between them but one small boy, and the very existence of said boy decreed that they never meet in this fashion again.

After a moment of awkward silence, Mikagami unexpectedly offered Raiha one of his rare smiles; the smiles that almost no one ever saw outside one mischievous little imp who courted those ephemeral, fleeting sparks of brightness with a strenuous determination that only true devotion and real desire could uphold. "Wakateiru? Raiha."

"Aa." Raiha nodded once, golden eyes glowing with a returning, slowly growing smile, as he relaxed back against his pillows, lanky body sprawled amid the mussed sheets. "And so now we both know."

Tokiya flushed again and quickly turned the knob. "D-domo."

"Un."

Raiha watched as with a flicker of silvery-grey hair Mikagami disappeared, taking with him the last fleeting, grasping connection Raiha had held to Koganei.

As it should be. He could not give Koganei all that the boy needed, could never have been what he deserved. He had offered what he could while he had the opportunity, but he could never have been enough.

Mikagami was a very odd person, but Raiha thought that maybe, just maybe he was exactly what Koganei needed.

With a weary sigh, Raiha tugged the blankets over himself and settled down to sleep. Sometimes there was just nothing else to do.

***

"Whew! Mi-chan, you stink! You been out practicing?!"

Tokiya kept his face perfectly blank -- harder than it appeared -- as he passed Fuko in the suite's main room. "Something like that."

"Well, go take a shower!" the girl exclaimed, waving a hand before her nose.

Tokiya rolled his eyes up, praying for patience, as he paced to the door of the master bedroom. He had really hoped there wouldn't be anyone in the suite when he returned to the hotel.

A hope doubly quashed, and second time more nerve-jarringly, as Tokiya walked into the bedroom to find a familiar young figure seated cross-legged in the center of their bed. Apparently Koganei had been waiting for him. Damnation! He'd asked Yanagi-san to find some way to distract the imp for a few hours and she'd assured him she would!

"Don't blame Yanagi-neechan," Koganei spoke up brashly, in uncanny answer to Tokiya's thoughts. He cocked his dark head, gleaming topaz eyes taking in Tokiya's rumpled, sweaty appearance. "She tried her best, but I shook her."

"Sou desu?" Tokiya paced toward the bed, hoping he wasn't walking as funny as it felt like he was walking. "And why did you do that?"

Koganei grinned, little fangs gleaming as he tipped his head the other way, not seeming at all put out. Tokiya wasn't sure how to take that, how worried he ought to be. "Maa, well, I figured we needed to talk."

"Hn." A small, reluctant smile curved Tokiya's lips as he sat -- with only a slight wince -- on the edge of the bed. "I ought to know better by now than to try to get anything past you."

"Damn straight!" Koganei crawled across the wide mattress and settled himself in Tokiya's lap, nuzzling under his sharp jaw. "I ain't stupid."

"No, you're not," Tokiya agreed, arms closing around the younger boy.

"I know where you been, whatcha been doing, and who you been doing it with. Ch'! I'd'a been able to smell it on ya, even if I didn't already know!" Koganei sat back, leaning comfortably against the curve of Tokiya's left arm and gazing earnestly up into his eyes. "Didja find out what you wanted to know?"

Tokiya blinked in mild surprise. Apparently Koganei held even more pieces of the puzzle than he had been aware of. He pondered the question. "I think so."

Those gem-bright eyes dulled a bit with a shadow of apprehension. "An'... didja find out what you need?"

Tokiya tilted his head. "Aa."

Koganei's mouth thinned. "Sumthin' I can't give you...."

"Iie." Tokiya placed one slim finger over Koganei's lips. His ice-blue eyes were intent, blazing into Koganei's clouded topaz. "Something only you can give me."

Koganei's mouth fell open, catlike eyes rounding. "Ore...."

Tokiya smirked and bent to press his mouth to Koganei's parted lips, sending his tongue to flicker over their full curves. After a moment Koganei kissed him back eagerly, slim, sturdy arms coming up to twine about his neck.

Tokiya finally broke the kiss, lifting his head. He frowned down at Koganei. "You aren't angry at me?"

Koganei blinked innocently up at him. "No."

Tokiya found that vaguely insulting, even though he knew that if anyone here was in the wrong, it was him. "Datte...."

Koganei gurgled with laughter, squirming in Tokiya's lap and drawing a pained look as this shifted the older boy's sore rear against the bed. "Like I said, niichan. I know whatcha did an' who you did it with. I've done the same thing, so I ain't too jealous. An' I know why you did it. You didn't do it for you -- you did it for me. So how could I be angry?!"

Tokiya stared at the boy, nonplussed. He wasn't sure that quite made sense.... But then, what he had just done didn't exactly make perfect sense either, and as long as Koganei wasn't upset with him, he wasn't going to argue.

"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" he said softly, pressing a light kiss to Koganei's temple, more for his own comfort than the boy's.

"Heh." Koganei wriggled free of his arms. "I don't think anyone else would put up with us, eh, niichan?"

"Don't call me that," Tokiya muttered, distracted by both his aching posterior and the fact that Koganei was suddenly stripping off his clothing, slick as an eel. "What are you doing?"

Mischievous amber-green eyes met his, amusement in their depths. "Undressing."

Tokiya just sighed.

Koganei chuckled throatily and grasped one slim white hand in his own sturdy gold fingers. "C'mon. I got a bath ready, an' I wanna share it with ya. It's a big tub..." he wheedled, pulling his 'niichan' up off the bed and toward the bathroom, step by step.

It wasn't any use resisting. Even if he'd wanted to. "Aa."

Koganei grinned up at him impishly. "Didja have fun, niichan?"

A dull flush suffused pale cheeks.

That chestnut head tipped to the side as Koganei pushed the bathroom door open, a distinctly wicked caste to those feral young features. "You know, niichan... I won't always be smaller'n you!"

Ice-blue eyes started wide as the door clicked decisively shut behind the two.

"Ara!"

Owari

To the Flame of Recca Fanfic Archive [Index by Pairing], [Index by Genre]