“Ready yet?” Ban knocked on the door several times before Kazuki answered.

“Y-yes, okay… you can go there ahead of me to check on the situation or something. Just give me a call on my phone if there’s something you’d like me to know,” Kazuki replied, but he wasn’t moving at all. He hadn’t even put on any of the components of her “uniform” yet.

Today, he had to wear a red dress that reached up to his ankles, and it hugged his body even more than his past uniforms. He was almost thankful that it was long, only if there wasn’t a huge slit at the left side, revealing his leg in the above-the-knee level. Plus, he couldn’t get himself to ignore the crisscrossing red lines at the back part that showed his flesh more than ever. And the shoes – it was only one and a half inches high, thankfully, but he knew he’d have a hard time walking because of the red strings that were intertwined around each of his leg. He couldn’t believe women actually like and think good of this stuff. And Hevn was just getting crazier and crazier every single day.

“Okay. Hevn’ll be back in a while to fix you up, so better hurry. You don’t want to hear her ranting again, do you?” Ban reminded, not really waiting for an answer from his partner as he slid through the door of the Honky Tonk.

Kazuki heard the bell on top of the door give its trademark ring. He guessed it was some sort of signal for him to start dressing so he did.

Everything had to end tonight. Kazuki’s expiry date for this job was starting to draw near. He was getting tired of walking around as a girl – the clothes bothered him and the shoes were just murdering his feet. And as if there weren’t enough guys poring over him when he was a guy, triple the usual number taunted him every single night.

He made sure everything was in order. He checked if his bra was not lopsided. He checked the shoes to see if they had the chance of breaking. He checked if the straps in her back would 100% not come off. And lastly, he made sure his bells were placed properly on his hair, and that he really was in his usual hairdo. He’d almost forgotten how that looked like, seeing the thousands of hairdos Hevn had tried on him so far.

“Ah, Kasumi-san, I’m glad you made it,” Hibiki walked over to greet Kazuki with a kiss on the cheek. Kazuki smiled falsely. “Minna, this is the woman I was talking about,” he said proudly to a group of people he was talking to earlier as if he’d own him.

“Hai, yoroshiku. Midou Kasumi desu [1],” he said as he shook hands with a guy accompanied by two girls on his sides.

“Kobayashi Minoru desu,” said the man.

“Kasumi-san, you can talk with him for a while, I’ll get us some drinks,” Hibiki said.

Kazuki tried to think of something to say while Hibiki was away. “So…you’re a friend of his?”

“Hmm, not really,” said the man thoughtfully and in a joking manner. “He always gets me in trouble for selling me some of his precious jewels. People run after these gorgeous stones you know. Then they want to buy it from me! As if that’d ever happen. I love these jewels as much as Hibiki does. It’s a shame he doesn’t tell me where he buys these jewelry…I’m thinking Europe, but he doesn’t want to admit it…”

“Jewels? Sell? Doesn’t he keep them? I heard he has a collection of them…” Kazuki said, heart throbbing with anxiousness. The Solace necklace may not be here after all. v “Actually, I’ve been begging him to sell them to me. He’s a good guy, but sometimes he gets dirty when it comes to jewels. He keeps the best ones for himself,” Kobayashi smiled his way out of the topic. This wasn’t quite the best thing to be talk about with a stranger, after all. Hibiki, he though, might get a bad name because of his blabbing. He was happy when someone called on him from across the swimming pool for some reason. He excused himself from Kazuki and the two girls and slipped away unnoticed.

Did Hibiki sell Solace?

But Kobayashi said he’d keep the best ones…

Then, Solace is here.

But… is Solace one of the “best” for Minase?

The two girls calling for his attention snapped Kazuki out of his thoughts. “Uh, sorry, what did you say?”

“I said,” repeated the taller woman. “How’d you get the idea or your hairstyle? Those bells look really sexy on you. And… it must’ve been hard to do that… You wrapped all your hair with strings… You hired a beautician or something? Coz your make up is professionally done too…”

Kazuki smiled out his blanked and clueless mind.

“Oh, and those shoes… they’re just pretty! They’re from Tannyeom, right? Come to think about it, this dress is also from Tannyeom! You loyal to that brand?” said the other girl in the pink dress.

Kazuki was forced to nod.

The woman squealed in delight. “Oh, great! We have something in common now…I’m Yuumi and this is my sister Aira…

“You know, you could be Tannyeom’s model, just apply, I bet they’ll accept you. You could meet that hot, hot, HOT, HOT, HOT, model from Tannyeom’s male section. But that’s really sad, though, coz I heard his contract expires in the next 4 months,” said the girl, disheartened at the thought.

Kazuki smiled again. “Aww, that’s too bad… Could you excuse me for a while? I have to go look for somebody.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“No, my ex.” That left the two girls hanging in the air. Why go look for your ex? They watched Kazuki circle around the pool to go over to the gigantic gazebo where most of the guests were.

Kazuki spotted Ban standing on one of the chairs near the shore of the beach near Minase’s house, drinking some red wine. Ban seemed to know of his presence from a long time and stood up and walked to the backside of one of the huge pillars where no one saw them.

“Solace may not be here,” Kazuki began.

“What?”

“His friend told me he’d been buying some of Minase’s jewelry, but he said Minase keeps the best ones for himself.”

“But is Solace one of the ‘best’ for Minase?”

“That’s exactly what I thought. So what do we do?”

“No way a jewel that striking is not one of the ‘best’. So I guess we’ll have to still proceed as planned.”

“I know, but…Minase seems gifted enough to think otherwise. What if he wanted to frame his friend? He’d have the money for having sold the jewel and get his friend arrested or something. I saw the way he was looking at him before he noticed I was there. He was obviously pretending to be friends with him! All he did was laugh haughtily over his friend’s words and put on an air of superiority…”

Ban considered this for a while. “It still doesn’t change anything… We can get on with the plan still, and if Solace’s not here, we’re just gonna have to check on this guy. What’s his name?”

“Kobayashi Minoru. Okay, but stay alert. I’ll let you know after I confirm that Solace is here.”

“Right.” And with that, they were off to do their separate jobs.

Hibiki stood up on the highly decorated stage with the logo of Lollipop as the backdrop. “KonBanwa, minna-san [2]! Thanks for coming tonight to celebrate Lollipop’s 5th birthday. I’m Minase Hibiki, owner of the Lollipop. Once again, I’d like to thank you all for being loyal to my night club, especially to the senior members.

“Now may I ask everyone to please be seated… And without any further delay… Dinner is served!” he declared, and watched as the people politely scrambled to find themselves some seats. Kazuki watched as Hibiki approached him. “Saa, ii meshi o tabete iku wa ne? [3]”

After dinner, Hijiri went back up the stage and said, “Now the official party starts! We’ve been too formal in celebrating Lollipop’s birthday…and let’s just say Lollipop isn’t about formality, deshou? Now you know why it says in the invitation to bring extra non-formal clothes.

“To those who wish to swim, you have the option of going to the beach or the pool. Just ask the men in the Lollipop uniform to guide you to the available shower rooms. The changing rooms are located there at the backside of the pool. And to those who won’t swim, screw you! …no, just kidding…Our renowned DJ Chao Zi is going to play some of the coolest rave music you’ve ever heard, so you can all dance along!

“Saa, hajimemashou [4]! DJ Chao Zi!” and with that, the irresistibly cool music of the DJ escaped from the booming speakers and filled the whole party area in the mansion.

“Kasumi-san, I’d have to leave you or a while. I’m changing first so I could swim already. All the wine I drank is making my body really hot! You can dress up now before the changing rooms get too crowded,” he said.

Kazuki was starting to panic inwardly. He had /no/ intention of swimming OR wearing a swimsuit in front of these people… The thought of Ban making fun of him in front of his friends when they get home was just too much. “Oh shoot! I just remembered that I left my other clothes and swimsuit in the car… Darn it, I told Paul-san not to forget to bring out my stuff…” Kazuki lied plainly. But Minase pretended not to notice this and insisted on making Kazuki swim with him.

“Oh, is that so? Well, you’re in luck, my sister has got loads of extra swim wear here. Ken, come show Miss Kasumi to Ne-chan’s [5] room. I’ll be the one to ask for permission.” With that, Minase winked at him placidly, petrifying a bewildered Kazuki.

“No!” Kazuki stopped him from walking away. “I’m… allergic to chlorine… See, I get all these horrible red spots all over, and it’s just ugly. You wouldn’t want to see them…”

“There’s still the beach.”

“I-I’m scared of night swimming in the beach! Coz, you know, my friend Juubei used to scare me a lot with stories of sea monsters he said his father fought, and… well…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there. No sea monster has dared to come within two miles from me,” he said, and placed a kiss on his cheek as he went away without turning back.

“Oh my gods…” Kazuki muttered to himself as Ken, the servant, led him to the inside of the mansion. Now that he thought of it, this could be a good thing. He could get a preview of where there were windows or doors for him to escape to later on.

This mansion seemed a lot bigger than it looked from outside. There was a grand chandelier in the hall and another one in the dining hall that they passed by as Ken led him to the great wooden staircase, which was lined with different kinds of great timber – that of oaks and mahogany, Kazuki guessed. But what alarmed him most was the number of bodyguards walking around the house. Their faces and identity were concealed especially with their all-black uniform and the look of snobbishness on them… ‘Oh well, they’d all be lying unconscious on the loor later when I get to them,’ Kazuki tried to convince himself.

Finally they reached the room. A beautiful lady of about 28 welcomed them. “You must be Kasumi. I’m Megumi, Hibiki’s sister,” she said, shaking hands with Kazuki. “Thanks, you may go, Ken…” she said as the servant bowed and left the humongous room, one that doubled the size of Kazuki’s humble apartment.

“Uhm, is it really okay? Because, really, I’d rather not swim…”

“No, no, no, it’s okay… It’s my pleasure, you’re such a pretty girl that I can’t help but help you out,” she smiled sweetly.

“Y-you’ve seen me before?”

“Of course I have. You were the one who hated the wine, right?”

“Oh, well, you see, I was a little drunk then…” Kazuki blushed a baby pink hue.

“That’s okay. Here. Choose the one you like.” She brought out her collection of swim wear from a huge drawer inside her closet filled with a wide array of clothes that even Kazuki admitted were absolutely, marvelously beautiful, and to think that he started to loathe women’s wear because of this job…

Kazuki barely stopped himself from walking out of the door upon seeing what choices of swimwear he had. It had to be either bikini, stringed bikini, one-piece but high cut, or other two-piece swimsuits.

“Saa, saa, try them. I guess you’re size is medium, but you’re tall, so a two-piece would be good… And this color would look good on you, definitely,” she picked an orange string bikini and held it up in front of Kazuki.

Kazuki tried to think fast of something… “No, that’s a little too sunny. It’s night swimming, right?”

“You’re correct, I guess…” she said thoughtfully. “You seem to be good at this stuff. Well, I see the way you’ve been dressing so I guess you are a fashionable woman… What brand do you stand by?”

“Uh, Tannyeom, I guess…” he said. Kazuki wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

“Oh, Tannyeom’s MARVELOUS. You should see their summer wear. They’re summer-y but still sophisticated. I just love the elegance of that brand! Tokoro de, how old are you?”

“Twenty…”

Ban almost tripped by the gutter of the pool when he felt a drop of warm blood shoot out of his nose. That /CANNOT/ be Kazuki. No way...

Kazuki, after much persuasion from Megumi, came out of the mansion to go swim in the beach. He wore a maroon two-piece swimsuit *[6]* and his hair was tied up in a high ponytail. Ban had to study him closer to believe that that was him.

Finally, he was able to grasp into understanding the ‘situation’. The reason why his few masculine features were not evident was because he was wearing a tubed halter top, meaning you couldn’t really see if he had real cleavage. Of course he didn’t, but the swimsuit had pads, so…

Plus, he had the curves. He bet Kazuki’s curves were deadlier than Natsumi’s or Hevn’s or Himiko’s whatsoever. It was just…there. He had a nice stomach, very intact and he had some major feminine abs. And the bottom part remained a mystery until now. Why was there no bulge? No matter how much he looked like a girl, there still HAD to be one. It was impossible! But there, he saw it, it was flat. How’d he do it? He made a mental note of asking him later when they got home. The buffoon in him started to visualize the whole thing…

“Kazuki, are you a woman?”

“Yep… So?”

“Wanna have a baby with me?”

Ban slapped his forehead under the water. What was he thinking? He shook himself physically to bring himself back to Earth. He checked if his five senses were still working properly. When he was sure that they were, Minase showed up. He distanced himself and observed them from afar.

“Oh, Kssumi-san, you look absolutely stunning. My sister has done such a wonderful job. Or maybe not. I think it’s not in the clothes; it’s in the wearer…”

“Why, thank you…” though he was at a considerable distance, Ban saw Kazuki positively blushing.

Minase drew himself closer to Kazuki as he spoke with him, unnecessarily holding his hands or slinging his hand over his shoulder. Ban shook his head in disgust and looked around. He saw a couple of bodyguards circling the place and talking with each other through radio headsets. Then he shifted back his attention to Kazuki. As a man approached them, Ban noted the look of disgust on Minase’s face. ‘This must be Kobayashi…’ he thought.

“So, Hibiki-kun, what do you say? Still wanna sell me the baby? I’d pay you any price for that…” Kobayashi said, almost pleadingly.

Kazuki was prompt in asking, “What baby?” he had a feeling they were talking about Solace. But much to his annoyance, Yuumi and her sister lured him away from the two men. He didn’t know how it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was seven meters away from the conversing men.

“Oh, Kasumi-san! That swimsuit’s just stunning!” Aira said.

“Thanks, but this belongs to Hibiki-kun’s sister, Megumi,” Kazuki said quickly, still trying to catch what Kobayashi and Minase were talking about. He was lucky enough to be able to hear Minase say, “We’ll have the final decision tomorrow. Meet me at—“

Kazuki didn’t hear the meeting place because Yuumi had spoken so loudly in his ear. “Let me guess? Tannyeom! Megumi-san loves their stuff too!” Kazuki tried hard not to slap this woman hardly.

Good thing Minase came and fetched him from the madness. He was almost readying his strings…“Excuse me girls, but I have to talk to Kasumi-san for a while…” he said, grabbing Kazuki by the arm. Kazuki wanted to kiss him then.

“Why? What is it my dear Hibiki?” Kazuki said, good mannered as usual.

“Nothing. I can see you don’t fancy the company of them, right?”

“No…Well, I actually, I don’t,” Kazuki rolled his eyes heavenward. “Imagine talking about clothes and fashion every spilt second you spend with them! …how’d you find out, anyway? Was I that obvious?” Kazuki smiled.

“Well, let’s just say I don’t fancy them too… Little girls want to sleep with me, but hell, who’d want to? Only Minoru’s being stupid enough to…” Minase smirked.

“I thought you were friends with Kobayashi-san?” This was the perfect loophole to get into the situation…

“Well, not really. The man’s a bastard, wanting me to sell him my precious jewel.”

“Yeah, I heard…He told me earlier. But you didn’t sell it, of course?”

“Of course not…He doesn’t deserve to hold or even see it again…" Minase glanced over at the three. Both Kazuki and him saw Yuumi and Aira staring at Minase.

“See? Told you the girls dig me,” he said. “But, poor them, my eyes are focused on one person already…” he continued. He stared at Kazuki meaningfully for a long time. Kazuki knew what was coming and tried to divert his attention from French-kissing him again.

“Aww, that’s so sweet…” he lied, and kissed him on the cheek. But Minase wasn’t taking the bait at all. His forehead bumped with Kazuki as their noses aligned. Kazuki wanted to push him away so badly, if only it were possible… But it wasn’t. He felt his lips on his as the waves crashed on their shoulders, as if wanting to push Minase away too.

Kazuki tried SO hard to convince himself that this was okay. After all, Minase was one of the prettiest boys he’s ever seen in his whole life. Plus, he had to get used to this by now. This was all part of the job, part of what he’s going to get paid for…

Ban was burning, protectiveness of Kazuki running through his veins as much as his blood did. Or was it just jealousy? He started glaring inwardly at the enthusiastic look on Kazuki’s face as he kissed Minase. The buffoon in him started talking to him again. ‘Kazuki shouldn’t be paid for this, he’s liking it!’ he got up and left the water permanently.

“Ban-kun, come here right NOW! Faster!” Hevn half-screamed at Ban through his cellular phone ten minutes later.

“Okay, okay…” Ban put his phone back in his pocket. He was already dressed in his normal clothes as he decided to get out of the water so much earlier than what was scheduled. He wondered what was going on… He was so overwrought as he started his car and drove to the Honky Tonk, a good one-and-a-half miles away from this place.

“Oh shoot. No one’s answering,” Kazuki said as Minase watched him call somebody on his cellular phone an hour later. “Now, how am I supposed to get home?! What kind of driver leaves the passenger behind?” Kazuki said, irritated at Ban. He just came back from looking or Ban’s Beetle everywhere but to no avail.

“Well, maybe an emergency came up…That’s okay. You can sleep here. Ne-chan and I are staying here before we get back to Tokyo next week,” Minase suggested, smiling deviously, though he tried to hide it.

Kazuki wanted to curse him. He was really thankful already that Minase did not ask to sleep with him, but because of Ban, he was left with no choice but to sleep here with this monster. “Wait, I’ll try to call up someone else,” Kazuki insisted, dialing the number to Paul’s. Of course, no one was answering at this late hour. Paul must be asleep already. He swore he’d make sure Ban would only get one-eighth of the pay for this job…

“Well, that’s just unlucky, isn’t it? I’m really sorry, but my driver’s already gotten home. He doesn’t sleep here, you know… Saa, this way. Ne-chan’s got a lot of extra clothes and stuff, no need to worry.”

Kazuki just shrugged secretly. Well, what could he do? Ban sure was nowhere near here… and he wasn’t as worried about ‘sleeping with’ Minase anymore. He had to admit, the “ne-chan” thing’s been growing on his kawaii-sensors. “Okay… thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” Minase chanced to place another kiss on Kazuki’s cheek as he led him up the house, arm around Kazuki’s waist.

“What’s the matter?” Ban asked as he met up with Hevn outside their client’s mansion.

“Where’s Kazuki-san?”

“I left him.”

“What?!”

“You didn’t tell me he had to come along! And besides he’s enjoying pretty-face Minase so much, I don’t need to worry about him being molested or shit. He’d want it.”

“Did something happen?”

“No, never mind what I said. Anyway, what’s up at this late hour?”

“Well, I just met up with our client…We got information that Solace might not be with Minase.”

“What? That’s it? Kazuki’s already told me that! Have you checked on Kobayashi Minoru yet?”

“Of course. He used to be Minase’s best friend. According to our client, Ms. Summers, he’s the one who wants Solace. He just got Minase to get it for him.”

“But he’s not giving it to Kobayashi…right?”

“We don’t know yet. We think he wants to frame Kobayashi for taking Solace. He has a scheme under his sleeve to pull any moment now that’d sure get Kobayashi out of the business.”

“Why’d he want that?”

“We don’t know yet. All we know is he’s using Solace to get back at Ms. Summers and Kobayashi…”

There was a moment of silence between the two. Ban was absent-mindedly playing with his cell phone, transferring it from one hand to the other, when suddenly he noticed he had one unread message and 3 missed calls, all from Kazuki. He checked it.

Thanks for leaving me behind, partner, I appreciate it a lot. And don’t try to apologize to me now, I’m out of battery, so you can’t send me a message or call. Anyway, I’ll be fine here, thank you. I’m staying over. And something tells me I’d be here for more than a day. I’ll just give you a call when I need you, so don’t keep your phone on silent mode. Take care, okay?

He couldn’t help but smile at the little remark at the end of the message that spoke of Kazuki’s kind side even though he might be furious at the moment for having left him there. Oh well. At least he sounded fine and confident enough to handle himself there. He figured he’d just have to explain everything tomorrow…and he still had to ask the gender-question, right?

[1] Yes, pleased to meet you. I’m Kasumi Midou.

[2] Good evening, everyone.

[3] Come on, let’s go eat some good food.

[4] Okay, let’s begin!

[5] Short for one-chan, meaning “big sister”

“Good morning, my Kasumi-san…” said Minase as he ran into Kazuki on the grand staircase on the following morning. He placed a kiss on his cheek as usual.

“Good morning.” He had to get used to this life soon or it’ll be his downfall. Well, it was already a good thing that he got to sleep in a separate room of his own…

“Morning, Ne-chan…” Kazuki thought it was highly cute of Minase as he greeted his sister with a kiss on the cheek too.

“Morning,” Megumi yawned as he greeted Kazuki.

“Is it gonna be ‘good morning’ all day or are we getting some breakfast?” Minase said, smiling.

“Man, I’m definitely starving!” Megumi exclaimed as they made their way down the spiral staircase.

Breakfast in Minase’s place was easily dinner for average people like Kazuki. There was a great banquet of food laid before them. Kazuki had no trouble filling his empty stomach, though Minase and his sister were criticizing some of the food. They were obviously gourmets, after all.

“So what’re you doing today, Ne-chan?” Minoru asked after sipping some mushroom soup off his bowl.

“Don’t know…Hang, I guess. No work today for Megumi!” she said proudly, biting off a piece of bacon. “How about you?”

“Have some job with Kobayashi-the-git later…Stupid monkey’s still has to hear from me again. As if I’ll say something different. Everything’s been planned perfectly well from the start…”

Kazuki almost choked on his noodles. “You’re gonna see Kobayashi-san today?” he asked, but Hibiki had no time to answer as Megumi suddenly butted in, whether intentionally or not.

“Sou da! Why don’t you come shop with me, Kasumi-san? A new mall’s opened here a couple of days I go…I wanted to check it out…” she invited.

“Oh, that’s where we’re meeting too… I suggest we all come together, why don’t we?” Hibiki said, smiling at the idea. Whether he imagined it or not, Kazuki thought Megumi frowned a bit.

“Sure, that’d be great!” Kazuki exclaimed, living what he said.

“Oh, you look absolutely dazzling, as always,” as if not getting enough of Kazuki’s cheek, Hibiki kissed him again.

“De shou? I told you I’d make him look perfect…” Megumi said, smiling proudly at the wardrobe he put Kazuki in as he didn’t have spare clothes anymore.

Kazuki wore a blue sleeveless geometrical top that exposed his belly. To fashionably cover the too revealing shirt, he had a matching blue fishnet long-sleeved top to cover him a bit. And much to the delight of Kazuki, he was made to wear a pair of pants – one that were too tight on the top and loose below, but it was okay because he thought the design was pretty. It was a camouflage cloth in different shades of blue instead of green, and there were silver hangings around where the belt should be. [1]

“Thanks,” Kazuki said, taking the arm that Hibiki offered as they stepped out of the mansion.

They arrived at the newly-opened shopping precinct in no less than ten minutes. Megumi dragged Kazuki and Hibiki over to Tannyeom as soon as they got there and bought clothes, shoes, and accessories like crazy. Now Kazuki had an idea of how wonderful Tannyeom’s clothes were. No wonder it had lots of fans, especially the women who opt for a sophisticated kind of clothing. Much to his surprise, Megumi was fitting clothes on him and buying them as a present for him, too. She seemed to have taken a liking to Kazuki a lot since the day they first met.

“Hayaku, ne-chan! [2] I’m already done with mine and you aren’t even halfway through!” Hibiki said, emerging from Tannyeom’s male section with two paper bags labeled with Tannyeom’s trademark logo.

Megumi looked at him and realized that he was right, she had been carried away too much. “Oh—Well, you and Kasumi-chan could go drink some coffee first or something. I’ll just give you a call to tell you where I’ll be next.”

“You’re meeting with Kobayashi-san, right?” Kazuki asked, raising once again the subject of Solace once they got out of Tannyeom.

“Yep. But he hasn’t called yet so that means he’s not yet here.”

“What are you going to talk about, anyway?”

“Well, see, I have this necklace he wants to buy from me. Not that he has a chance of getting it, though. There’s no way he’d get it in his hands. Not ever,” Hibiki said, and Kazuki saw a different expression crawling on Hibiki’s eyes, one that he’s never seen yet. He seemed angry at something and at the same time there was a hint of absolute protectiveness, over the necklace, perhaps.

Just when Kazuki was getting ready to grill Minase about it, his cell phone rang. He wanted to chuck it out the door of the café they just stepped into, but he saw that it was Ban calling. He excused himself for a while and stepped outside, because there was something private he needed to talk about to Ban, of course. “Hello?”

“Kazuki. Look, I’m sorry I left you last night. Hevn called –“

“No, it’s okay. I’m actually thankful you left me.” Judging by the pause on the other line, Kazuki guessed that Ban thought he enjoyed being with Minase. “No, it’s not what you think. Look, I’m in the mall right now—“

“With him?” Ban interrupted.

“Anyway, I changed my mind. There could be NO WAY Hibiki’s selling Solace to that Minoru.”

“So you are with him. And you call him by his first name now, huh?” Ban was obviously undergoing intense jealousy. Kazuki rolled his eyes in exasperation of this.

“Whatever. You want to continue with the job or not?” Kazuki said, and he inferred by the silence that Ban shot at him that he was allowed to continue speaking. “Good. Now, look here. This guy is positively obsessed with Solace. I bet all my wages he won’t sell it.”

“But Hevn got information that Minase might be trying to get back at Ms. Summers and Kobayashi for something. He is trying to frame the guy, like you guessed!”

“Might be, okay. She said ‘might be’. But that would make no sense! He doesn’t want to sell it, but he wants to frame him using Solace? How could he frame Kobayashi for stealing Solace if Solace’s NOT even with Kobayashi?”

“I don’t know… But Kobayashi did get Minase to get Solace for him, that’s what we know. Just continue to watch after that guy and try to get him to talk about Solace’s whereabouts. And take care, too.” Ban didn’t leave any second for Kazuki to say anything as he said his last word. He immediately put down the phone after that, making Kazuki feel a little guilty for some reason.

Kazuki didn’t have energy for the rest of their mall-hopping day. He was a witness to the Kobayashi-Minase meeting, but there was really nothing remarkable about it. He turned down the request, as Kazuki expected. Though near the end, Kobayashi mentioned something Kazuki thought was of high importance.

“Hibiki-kun, if you really value the most important thing in your life, then I suggest you give this game up and hand me the jewel,” Kobayashi had said in a low voice as he swept past them with his bodyguards trailing behind him.

Thinking it over, Kazuki supposed that there was a more valuable jewel than Solace involved…Or was it not Solace Kobayashi had been begging Minase to hand over? Maybe the ‘most important thing’ he was talking about was Solace? Then, Kobayashi had to be in some sort of control over Solace to be able to use it as bait for Minase… Kazuki was confused… the information Ban and he had was useless… they proved to be of no help now, as there seemed to be something bigger involved in this mess.

And to add to his confusion, Kazuki saw Hibiki clutch his fist tightly; looked down and muttered, “Ne-chan…” Kazuki could not make out the expression by which the word was said. Could it be that Megumi was also involved in this, after all?

By the time they got back home, the three of them headed straight for their rooms. Kazuki was a little sorry that he had to go home now, and he was still gaining on Solace a lot. He wished that there were some excuse he could pull off so they could let him stay over this place some more…

Just then, he heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” Kazuki said, mindlessly folding his clothes and put it inside his bag.

“Oh, Hibiki-kun, doushita? Sono kurai na kao…? [3]” Kazuki asked, and he felt a little pain in his chest for seeing him so down. He was always such a high-spirited perverted kid. But still, he was cute and happy most of the time…

“Kasumi-san, please stay a little longer, please…” he begged, walking forward and embracing a bewildered Kazuki.

Kazuki patted his back gently and said, “Okay,” a little too happy than he wanted it to come out originally. “But could you tell me why?” he asked gently.

“Ne-chan… I never saw her smile a real smile in ages… and now, you came, and you make her so happy…Please just stay, as long as you want or can. Please…” he begged.

Kazuki thought this was ridiculous. Megumi seemed like a pretty healthy and normal adult, save the abnormal enthusiasm for Tannyeom’s clothes…and it was just too surprising to hear that he, Kazuki, a stranger, was able to make her smile more than her real brother did. He thought she was so lucky to have a sweet, naughty little brother like Hibiki… then why hadn’t she been able to smile?

Kazuki held Hibiki’s pretty face up with both hands and made him look at him. “Tell you what. I can stay here for a week or so, whatever you want, or however long it will take for me to help Megumi-san smile regularly… I’ll go talk to her later, ne?” Kazuki said as he tenderly looked at him, kissing him lightly on the lips. “So don’t give me that sad face! You’ll look older than Megumi in two weeks if you keep doing that.”

Kazuki took a deep breath and knocked on Megumi’s door two hours after dinner. When he heard her say “Come in”, he opened the door and stepped inside with a smile plastered on his face.

In less than three minutes’ time, they were conversing so merrily that it was almost impossible to stop them.

“…and then, Juubei was suddenly talking about how he was born for the purpose of protecting me… and I was like, ‘Oh, juubei, you’re so old-fashioned…’ But that was sweet, right? He was so cute then!” Kazuki chuckled as he told stories about him and Juubei.

“Awww, that was cute! I wish I had a lover like that!” Megumi said, smiling widely.

“Oh, so you mean, you don’t have a boyfriend now?” Kazuki asked out of plain curiosity.

Megumi became a little serious. “Well, you know, I had one before…just one, he was my first. And after we got separated, I’ve never had another man in my whole life. Here’s his picture.” She stood up and walked over to a drawer and bought out a big photo album.

While watching her, Kazuki said, “How could that happen? I mean, you’re so pretty, Megumi-san, you look so much like your brother, except you’re a girl version… If I were a complete stranger, I’d have guessed you were twins…”

Megumi came back with the photo album opened. “Here. That’s him.” She was pointing at a really handsome teenager who had his arm slung over the shoulder of who was positively a ten-year younger Hibiki.

“Oh, kakkoi!” Kazuki said. As he stared and admired at the person in the picture, a light bulb lit in his head. “But, wait, this can’t be—“

“Yes, it is Kobayashi. Couldn’t believe right? He looked a lot hotter when he was younger.” Megumi grinned a little. “But now, all his work made him look like an old prune. He’s the same age as me, but, huh, I sure know how to maintain looking like my age. He looks ten years older than us!” she joked.

Kazuki couldn’t believe it. Now he understood why Megumi frowned earlier that morning upon hearing this guy’s name. And come to think of it, Megumi was only out of her room during last night’s party to drag Kazuki out to the beach and never came out after that; and a while ago, she wasn’t there during the Hibiki-Minoru meeting… Kazuki’s head was spinning as Megumi turned the pages of the album; he saw different pictures of the young Kobayashi Minoru with the ten-year-younger Megumi, Hibiki and another pretty foreign girl who, without doubt, looked like…

“Who’s this?” Kazuki asked her impatiently, pointing at the familiar girl.

“Oh that…She used to be my best friend since kindergarten. Victoria Summers… that girl was the one who stole everything from me,” she said.

“Stole everything…?”

“I found out when I was 20 that she and Kobayashi’s been cheating me. They’ve been together for a long time too… I thought then that we were nearly getting married, but, voila! They’re having an affair behind my back. And to think that Kobayashi was my boyfriend for over 5 years already!”

Victoria Summers, just like I thought… our client was Megumi-san’s best friend…and she had an affair with Kobayashi… But, didn’t she tell Ban and me that Hibiki used to be his lover?

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Megumi-san… Don’t worry, bad luck always finds its way to bad people…” he said, trying to sound positive. After all, it might’ve been really hard on Megumi’s part. Three years of making you believe that someone loved you…

But what was more important was the fact that there was something personal going on between their client and Minase’s family. What if the whole object of the job was something personal? And Ban did say that Hibiki’s trying to get back at Kobayashi and Ms. Summers, right?

“Hibiki-kun,” Kazuki greeted as he entered Hibiki’s room. He saw that he was getting ready to take a bath. “Oh, would you want me to wash your back for you?” Kazuki said, an idea popping his head.

“S-sure…” Hibiki said, unsure of what to say.

“I talked to Megumi-san a while ago…” Kazuki said, five minutes later when he was washing Minase’s back in his bathtub.

“So you know now why she hasn’t been happy all these years?”

“Yeah, pretty much… You know what? I think it’s all this Summer girl’s fault… cause she’s pretty evil for someone so pretty. You were the same age as her, right?” Kazuki said, opening the porthole for a meaningful conversation.

“Yep… Shame on her! I actually planned to ask her out, but when I found out her ‘thing’ with Minoru… sheesh, no way I’m coming closer to that girl ever again…” he said.

Kazuki was only half-listening. He was staring down the water, lost in a tangle of thoughts. Then he asked something that he didn’t even know he was thinking about subconsciously until it came out. “Hibiki-kun, do you think it’s possible for you to be able to love another man?”

“Hah! That doesn’t require thinking for me! No way! NOT ever! I’m ever loyal to women…why do you ask, anyway?”

Kazuki, feeling a little hurt, lied, “Nothing. It’s just that my friend has been madly in love with someone who’s the same gender as he…”

“Oh, you’re still wearing this bracelet I gave you?” Minase said, noticing the ornament that hung on the wrist that rested on his shouder.

“Yeah. I think it’s rather pretty…” Kazuki said, holding his wrist up to admire its modishness.

“So I heard the jewel you and Kobayashi-san’s fighting over has a name, Megumi-san mentioned it a while ago…What is it?” Kazuki asked, heart pounding heavily in his chest with nervousness.

“Solace.” Bingo. Good thing Minase was open to him about it. “It’s a really, really beautiful and valuable necklace from Europe.”

“Ooh, I’ve read about that before. That’s a really old necklace from England, right? But my favorite was the Hope Diamond, the one they say is cursed. Makes it even more interesting, if you ask me. Also the Heart of the Ocean, that’s really, really pretty too,” Kazuki said, trying to sound casual.

Minase smirked. He turned around to face the stunned Kazuki who was wearing only a bathrobe. He stood up to level himself to Kazuki’s face, not bothering to cover up his nakedness. Tenderly, he ran the back of his hand over Kazuki’s soft facial skin and said, “You really are a gift from heaven, aren’t you?”

He slowly closed the gap between their lips as he kissed him, and Kazuki was very sure that this kiss was different. Unlike the past ones that were done out of pure lechery. It was as if Minase was pouring out his heart to him through their mouths that served as a gateway for mixed emotions. Now, Kazuki was beginning to learn to appreciate Hibiki much more than before. He could feel his pain and suffering now, so much so that Kazuki felt a little dizzy.

Minase Hibiki was an adult who was young; he needed to be cuddled and embraced; needed to be kissed. He needed a kind of love that he knew no one has ever given him, not even his sister. And Kazuki knew he was someone perfect for the criteria, except that he was a man…

Kazuki held both sides of Minase’s face, then gradually running his hand through his dark brown hair that was of the same color as his own. He finally settled his arms to rest over Minase’s neck, just as the kiss kept coming. A lot of it. And before he knew it, he realized he was kissing him back, too.

Minase was beginning to slowly remove the robes that hung loosely on Kazuki’s shoulders. That brought him back to the ground instantly. He broke away from Minase and fixed his robe, before he had the chance of seeing his ‘true identity’. “I’m sorry,” Kazuki said, unsure of what the apology was for, but he knew he was sorry about something.

“That’s okay… Hey, wanna go see Solace?” Minase said nonchalantly, trying to sound cool and as if it didn’t bother him at all. But Kazuki knew he was upset for being turned down a while ago.

But still, Kazuki couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Exactly the one thing he wanted from the start, being offered to him loosely like this.

“Sure…”

Minase led him into a dark room somewhere inside the house. Kazuki couldn’t figure out exactly how they ended up here. Minase didn’t bother turn the lights on and whether it was purposely done or not was out of his knowledge. Kazuki heard a sound from someplace close by, as he couldn’t see anything. Then he heard a door open, a door that was different from normal wooden creaking doors. It sounded as if it was opening from the floor up, not from left to right.

Then bright light suddenly crept from the opposite side of the door, where cool air-conditioned air was coming from, too. Kazuki tried to adjust to the bright light as fast as he could as he was eager to see Solace. Little by little, he was starting to make out the interior of the room. It was big with white everywhere – walls, ceiling and floor. There were glass cases containing several jewels in them. There was also hidden cameras camouflaged on the white walls. By the looks of it, this room was highly secured, as Ms. Summers had warned them.

“Here’s the baby,” Minase said, pointing over to an emphatically raised glass case that contained one magnificent necklace. Exactly like the one they saw in the picture, only a million times more striking in the flesh.

“Woah…” Kazuki couldn’t help himself from saying this. “This… this is beautiful,” he said, awestruck.

“I warned you, didn’t I?” Hibiki joked. “Now if you were in my place, would you sell this to someone who hurt your most beloved sister?”

“No way… But you’d probably get a HELL lot of money for this thing… I mean, you can’t spend this,” Kazuki said, still not taking his eyes away from Solace.

“I know, but you can’t have this feeling if you had a lot of money in exchange for it. See, here,” Minase stood behind Kazuki and positioned him in such an angle that he saw Solace in the best angle possible. “I’ll show you why this baby is called Solace.”

Kazuki continued to stare at it. And he was beginning to experience a light sensation, as if he was being lifted off the ground. It was…peaceful. It was as if the necklace was a goddess staring back at him with the softest eyes and the kindest heart one could ever find.

“What do you feel?”

Kazuki didn’t need to think. There was only one word that could describe this feeling. “Solace.”

“Sorry, I’ll be back tomorrow, I swear. I still have your clothes, remember?” Kazuki said the next day, as if he needed to promise. He was definitely coming back...for the necklace. “Bye, Hibiki-kun, Megumi-san!” he said, as he stepped into the cab he called.

He called up Ban a while ago and told him that he’d be back in Tokyo for tonight. He definitely had to talk about a lot of things. He had to share everything he knew. He was his partner, after all.

“Had fun having great sex with Minase?” Ban greeted as they met in an empty dark and very narrow alleyway behind their meeting place. They decided not to go someplace recognizable, as Minase might send someone to follow Kazuki.

Kazuki instinctively slapped Ban on the face, so fast that he didn’t have time to control himself as his hand hit his skin hard. “What the hell is wrong with you? You think I’m enjoying my job? Hn?” Kazuki said, irritated.

“Well, seems like you do,” Ban said, lighting a cigarette, not making a fuss about the pain in his left cheek.

“I had to travel a long way here, and this is how I’m getting paid for my hard work? If you’re so good, then why don’t you do it?” Kazuki demanded.

“I can’t, coz I don’t enjoy the company of pretty boys like Minase.” Ban said coolly, not looking at Kazuki.

“What the—? Look, I’m trying extremely hard not to lose my temper here. But this is ridiculous, Ban, it just is! Are you being jealous? Because I think you are, right? That’s it, you’re just jealous. You always have been. You’re just a jealous–-“

But before Kazuki could finish what he was trying to say, Ban pinned him on the wall, two split seconds after he threw his cigarette to the floor. Then as if happening by magic as he didn’t notice it happen, Kazuki felt lips pressed hard upon his own, the intoxicating taste of mentholated saliva pouring into his mouth like venom.

Ban held Kazuki’s face in his hands and kissed him greedily. His tongue was probing Kazuki’s mouth for an answer. Will it be acceptance? Or rejection, just like always?

The answer was wordlessly given as Kazuki pushed him away. Neither of them was speaking nor looking at each other.

/Two hours later/

“Damn car!” Ban cursed as he lost hope in being able to fix the Beetle pronto. “Could I stay over at your place for tonight, thread spool? I’m going to have to fix this in the morning,” Ban said without glancing at Kazuki. They were on speaking terms again after that “alleyway incident”, because they were able to talk about Solace freely while Ban was driving to Kazuki’s house, but they still had an uneasy feeling toward the other.

“I can’t go home with this thing broken. And your house is only around the corner, right?” Ban asked.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Kazuki said as they both continued to push the helpless car towards their destination.

“Poor thing had to break now…” Kazuki said.

“Don’t pity it. It’s the almighty Beetle, don’t you know?” Ban said jokingly, smirking under a haze of smoke emitted by his cigarette.

Around fifteen minutes later, they were already in Kazuki’s humble apartment. “It’s not much, but make yourself at home,” Kazuki said.

“You kidding? This is like, one of the most organized and neatest places I’ve ever seen! I’ll never be comfortable here,” Ban said, eyeing the very orderly bookshelf near the very clean living room set.

Kazuki smirked as he immediately got himself changed to his usual pajamas. How he missed the soft silky feel of the cloth against his skin… He bent down to pick up his used shirt that fell on the floor opposite Ban’s direction. Then he got up to talk to Ban about where he could sleep, but when he turned around, Ban was already there in front of him. His body was only two inches away from him, and Kazuki felt uncomfortable so he said, “If you want, I have extra pajamas…I’ll go get them now—“ but Ban had already caught his wrist before he was able to move an inch away from him.

“Yes or no? You haven’t answered my question yet,” Ban said, suddenly turning dead serious.

Kazuki knew this would come. He didn’t know what to say. Who would have guessed Ban liked him ‘that way’ anyway? He took a deep breath and said, “Look here, Ban. I’m really sorry. My mind and heart says no,” he said firmly.

“I see why you’re saying ‘no’. You, being the romantic woman you are, think that I like you only because you looked good in a skirt. Well guess what, you’re wrong. I don’t know this either, but I think I really, really like you. I’ve been thinking about you 24/7… You’re just driving me crazy. And this has got to stop! Kazuki, please, just give me a chance…” Ban pleaded.

Ban pulled Kazuki into another deep kiss, wishing it might help him say ‘yes’.

“I think it’s hard to love someone who isn’t sure about his feelings. Just try again when you’re decided so neither of us end up getting hurt…” Kazuki said matter-of-factly.

And so they spent the rest of the night in silence, and tired as they were, it was a sleepless night. Every uneasy moment was wished and waited to pass, as they pondered silently about a multitude of thoughts running through their confused minds, waiting for the dawn.

[1] I know it’s kinda hard to get what I’m trying to say, but I do have this
 outfit! And I have it on picture, exactly like the one I’m describing here, so
e-mail me if you want to see it… ^^

[2] Hurry up, sister!

[3] Hibiki, what’s the matter? That depressed look…?

“Morning,” Kazuki greeted as he noticed Ban had woken up, head rested on his chest and arms around him. While Kazuki was asleep, it seemed that Ban had found a way to sneak up to his bed and snuggle with him unnoticed. “You like to sleepwalk, don’t you?” Kazuki asked, though somehow, he didn’t mind this.

“Oh…” Ban sat up properly. “Uhm, well, I couldn’t sleep last night…”

“That’s okay,” Kazuki said, then got up and tied his hair in a ponytail before he started making the bed. “You can go shower first. I’ll make breakfast and fix stuff. Your clothes are over there, near the table,” Kazuki pointed to the little table on the other side of the bed.

“No, wait, I still have to fix the car…I’ll just take a bath after that…” Ban replied, yawning widely.

“Suit yourself…” Kazuki said, not looking at him as he re-fluffed the pillows.

“Some breakfast?” Kazuki requested some thirty minutes later. He had just finished taking a bath himself, and was holding a little tray with a glass of steaming coffee and some bread and ham.

Ban rolled out form under the car. “Yeah, I think I should have some food first…I can’t work on this properly with an empty stomach!” he said, sitting beside Kazuki on the doorstep.

“How’s it coming?”

“So-so… Just a little tuning would have it running like before… Give me some more twenty minutes and it’s done,” Ban bragged, reaching for the piece of bread beside him.

Kazuki saw this and hit the back of Ban’s hand lightly. “No, you’re still so dirty! Go wash your hands first. Tsk, tsk, tsk, people nowadays don’t care about hygiene anymore…” Kazuki shook his head in trivial disappointment.

“Sorry, okay… Even if I wash this, it’s not completely gonna come off anyway. Darn car oil…” he said, looking down at his filthy black hands.

“Tsk, you’re helpless,” Kazuki shook his head again and got the bread from the plate. “Aa—“ he said, gesturing for Ban to imitate him as he opened his mouth. Ban followed obediently, since there wasn’t really much reason to refuse being handfed by this beautiful man.

Ban picked up his cup of coffee as he chocked on the piece of bread that entered his throat faster than he allowed. “No, that’s still ho—“ Kazuki tried to warn him, but too late, Ban was already sipping on it. In less than a split second, he was spitting the hot liquid onto the floor as he coughed. Kazuki patted him on the back very gently to quieten his partner.

“Ow, ow! Shit, my tongue’s killing me!” Ban complained, teary-eyed.

“I told you it was hot —“ Kazuki said, trying to suppress giggles.

“If I’m not going to be able to taste anything from now on, it’d be your fault,” he threatened blankly.

“Do I need to remind you who’s house it is that you slept in, and who’s the one who’ll be paying for the food you eat?” Kazuki said jokingly.

“Fine, be that way…” Ban rolled his eyes in annoyance. “I’ll rape you if you do that again,” he muttered to himself.

“What was that?” Kazuki asked, clueless.

“Woooh! I’m done, finally!” Ban exclaimed, picking up his clothes from the white table. He walked over to the bathroom, which was absolutely spotless. The walls and even the ceiling had no signs of being used for more than a week. ‘Thread Spool sure is being a good housekeeper,’ he thought as he stripped himself off his clothes.

As the cold water of the shower hit his face, he recalled what happened last night. From his confession to how Kazuki reacted and the stupidity and rashness in his actions.

He wondered if he did feel something for Kazuki. Sure, he was gorgeous, everyone knows that. And he was very caring and gentle – someone you’d feel comfortable approaching when you had problems; someone who would welcome you with open and warm arms like that of a mother’s; someone who’d make you feel you were loved, even if the world hates you. But aside from that, what else? Maybe he, Ban, was just a little too much blinded by these ideas. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be with him, or he didn’t deserve him. He himself wasn’t even sure if he was in love with him. But then again, he wouldn’t feel overprotective of him if he wasn’t; wouldn’t feel jealous every time he sensed signs of Kazuki liking Minase over him[LSL1] [LSL2] ; or wouldn’t think about him every second of the day.

He stepped out of the shower. He had only been in there for five minutes, as he checked the wall clock hanging above the sofa.

“Done already?” Kazuki asked, hoisting some washed laundry to the clothesline properly.

“Yep. Missed you already,” he answered, trying to be sweet, which was pretty hard for a guy like Ban. He walked up and hugged Kazuki loosely from behind. He kissed him on the neck lightly as Kazuki rested his hands softly on Ban’s arms that were wrapped around his waist.

“Ban,” Kazuki said, fluidly breaking free from Ban’s bear hug and turning around to face him. He got pretty lost in the depths of his sapphire eyes for quite a long time before he was able to speak. “I’ve been giving some thought about you since last night…and I hope you were, too… have you decided yet?”

Ban thought silently about this for a while. “Well…I don’t know yet if I truly am in love with you…But what I do know is that I really, really like you… isn’t that enough to start with?”

Kazuki took a quiet breath and said, “It’s good that you’ve been thinking about that, and that you were honest about your feelings. I want you to know that I’m actually very happy that you like me, but maybe as anyone would if they found out their friend had a crush on them or something. But, Ban…I don’t know, I just don’t think I really feel something for you, more than a friend, that is… I mean, I really do love you because you’re my friend, but, see…” Kazuki ran out of things to say. “I’m sorry. Look, I know I’m the one who’s being indecisive here…” which was true, because for Kazuki, he always thought Ban’s undesirable qualities far outweighed his good ones in about a 60-40 ratio.

Ban held his face up to lock their gazes together. He just wished he could use Jagan on him to show him how much he liked him, to show him in solid form the way he felt for him. But he’d never cheat and do this the easy way. If Kazuki wanted it to be the traditional way, so be it. He figured that Kazuki might’ve been too surprised by his sudden confession and just needed some time. After that, maybe then, he’d grow to like him too…

“But you’re giving me a chance, right? Just give me a little time, maybe I could change the way you think about me…”

“There’s nothing wrong with the way I think about you… I think you’re a really interesting and kind man at heart. But the problem is, I can’t feel any of the love that you want me to feel for you…”

“Okay…So what do you say about the chance?” Ban asked, every fibre in him wishing for a ‘yes’.

“I’m okay with that. But promise me one thing though… Never let your feelings for me affect the way you do this job, okay?” Kazuki said gently.

“No problem…” Ban said, embracing Kazuki tightly. He was too happy and didn’t realize that Kazuki was talking about his relation to Minase.

“I HATE traffic! Is this punishment or something? Because if it is, it’s kind of unfair. I don’t remember doing anything so horrible to deserve this!” Ban grumbled. They had been in the same spot for thirty minutes already, and the car radio was not working properly, the heat was boiling their brains, and the other cars’ horns were just as irritating as a flying cockroach that never died after being hit a couple of times already.

“Maa… I guess it would be better to park here. Honky Tonk’s only a few blocks away, so we can just walk there…” Kazuki suggested.

“Good idea. My ass is getting sore from just sitting here like this, let’s get out of here,” Ban said as he parked the car in the parking lot beside the mall they were close to. Then he got out of the car and stretched. “I’m gonna have to retire soon if it’s gonna be like this everyday…” he said.

“Come on, let’s go…” Kazuki suggested. They walked through the hot streets of Tokyo, intensifying heat boiling their blood. They thought it would be a good idea to pass through the mall for some cold air. While they were inside, window-shopping, Kazuki saw Tannyeom. He held Ban’s hand unconsciously and pointed at the store with his other hand. “Look. Here’s an example of a store that nearly drove me nuts all the while I was on this job,” he shared. “That’s the dress Hevn-san let me wear. Mighty uncomfortable,” he said, shaking his head.

All the while Kazuki was sharing about his experiences with different Tannyeom-girls, Ban was looking at their connected hands. ‘Had Kazuki done this on purpose?’ shortly, he figured Kazuki was just out of himself and unconsciously did this. There was no way Kazuki would…

But later, as they reached the Honky Tonk, Kazuki was still swinging their hands back and forth merrily, sharing different kinds of stories.

“Irasshaima—“ Even Natsumi stopped dead halfway to her automatic greeting as she, together with Hevn, Paul, Ginji and Shido noticed the holding-hands-act. It was only then that Kazuki seemed to notice that he’d been holding Ban’s hand all the while. “O-oh… Hi everyone. What’re you doing here?” Kazuki asked casually, letting go of Ban’s hand gradually.

Ginji was kind enough to divert everyone’s attention from the awkward situation. “Well, Shido-kun and I are done with our job, so we figured dropping by would be a nice idea…

“By the way, how’re you guys getting along? I bet this quite a difficult job… I heard about the bodyguards and the mansion and stuff… and the ‘thing’… you know, you being disguised as a girl and all…”

“Oh, it’s okay, I guess. It isn’t really scary or threatening as it sounds… And I’m kinda getting used to this girl-stuff, although you have to believe me when I say my feet do literally die on me every night,” Kazuki said indifferently.

“Sou ka… Maa, I hope you finish this job well. Gambatte ne!” Ginji cheered, still upset that everyone was still staring at Kazuki and Ban suspiciously.

“Hevn-san, we dropped by here coz I ran out of clothes… Would you mind lending me some? I have to go back as soon as possible to Hibiki’s,” Kazuki said, trying desperately to turn everyone’s mood around.

“Oh—okay… I heard you were coming back so I prepared something for you already. Come here,” Hevn said plainly, reaching down to pick up the paperback with the freaking Tannyeom label. Then she dragged Kazuki inside his usual “dressing room” which was the small cupboard under the stairs near the kitchen. “Kazuki-san, you’re not with Ban, are you?” Hevn asked.

Kazuki blinked a couple of times before answering. “What do you mean…? He’s my partner, how can I not be with Ban-san?” Kazuki said, hints of ridicule in his tone of voice.

“No, I meant with him /WITH him/!” Hevn said. “Because I did warn you, remember?”

Kazuki pretended to understand only now what she meant. “Oh, so that’s what you meant,” he faked a little laugh. “That’s impossible! Me? Ban? I think that’s a little too much of an irony, isn’t it?” he said gently.

Hevn looked at him warily. “Well, okay… Here’re your clothes. I’m just outside if you need some help or something…” then she left.

“WOAH! Kazu-chan?! Is that you?” Ginji exclaimed in disbelief as Kazuki stepped out wearing a purple long-sleeved blouse with an ivory white short skirt with matching purple earrings and bangles and high-heeled white sandals. To finish off the dainty look, he also wore a thin white headband over his head and didn’t have majority of his hair in strings; only the two trademark ones on the front.

Even Shido was speechless. “Oi, Hevn, I don’t think you should put Hebi-yaro in this assignment…Kazuki wouldn’t be safe with that man anywhere within 30 feet near him…”

“Temme! Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” Ban shouted heatedly.

“Ban-kun, we still have to get to work, don’t we?” Kazuki reminded him before he rolled on the floor with Shido in a catfight.

“Why are you so excited to leave, anyway? There’s still traffic out there. If you want you can drive there yourself.” Ban said half-mindedly, sending daggers to Shido’s direction.

“I would, if I knew how to, ex-boyfriend.” Kazui said.

“Hey, hey, hey… I thought you were still my girlfriend? What happened, you dumped me for Minase?”

“Hah! For your information, Hibiki’s much more sensible than you. I’d rather be with him than some snake man like you…” Kazuki said, blaming the heat and the discomfort his clothes brought him for his impolite, unrefined words he usually didn’t use.

Everyone in the Honky Tonk was staring at them now. Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Surely Kazuki knew more than to choose such a rash, proud, chain-smoker man like Ban?

“Oh fine! So that’s why you were really happy about this job, huh? I bet you were so happy when he was all over you about how you looked good in a bikini, right? …You get to kiss him all the time, you get to sleep with him, and hug him and blah, blah, blah…” Ban said loudly.

“So what? See, you’re doing it again! You’re getting jealous… J-E-A-L-O-U-S!” Kazuki spelled the word with an irritated expression on his face. They were so much into hitting back each other’s insults that they completely forgot about the people around them. They even drove some customers away, but Paul didn’t mind. This was such an exciting scene that not a word should be missed.

“Eh? Why should I be jealous over a nonsense pretty-face like him? I bet I have ten times as much more brains and logic as he does, anyway!”

“Dare you say that! He’s really kind and smart and handsome, if you should know. More like ten times better than you! Hmmph!”

“Ok then. Don’t ask me to help you out of their mansion after you get that stupid necklace back, huh?”

“No, I didn’t say that! And you shouldn’t involve your JEALOUSY in our job… that’s what being a pro is all about, like you said! And if you don’t help me, I’ll make sure you get only a cent out of our pay! You hadn’t really done anything helpful, have you? I’m the one who has to do all these weird things and act like the girl that I’m not, which is hard, of course, and all you do is HANG around! How unfair is that?”

“Yamete kudasai! Kazu-chan, Ban-chan!” Ginji said, trying to calm them down. Hevn, Paul and Shido all came to shut Ginji up. They wanted to hear more.

“That’s not unfair, Thread Spool. I’m the one who pays for the gasoline every time we go out and I’m also the one who keeps you safe, remember?”

“Keep me safe? I’m not just a hopeless sissy girl like everyone thinks! I can protect myself very well, thank you. Oh, and whose bed was it that you slept on last night? No one even said that you could hop in and sleep with me, right?”

‘Sleep with me?!’ There seemed to be a lot more to this issue than they thought.

“But you said it was okay! And how should I know, anyway? There…there was a BIG cockroach on the floor near my futon, so I had to climb up to your bed and I just…fell asleep!” Ban lied transparently.

“Cockroach? My house? That never happened in my five-year history of staying at that place! And even so, that had to be an awfully scary and big cockroach to scare off a big man like you!”

“Whatever! I’m gonna make sure you regret picking a fight with Midou Ban like this!”

“Oh, is this a fight already? Not even close! Well, for all I care! Is this how you prove to me your feelings? Great going, you just blew your chance!” Kazuki said, to the effect that all of the people listening raised their eyebrows in a high arch.

Ban shut up already and stormed out of the Honky Tonk noisily. “Hey, hey, don’t go walking out on me like that!” Kazuki said, running after him.

“…What the hell… was that all about?” Hevn asked, still shocked by the incident.

“Ban!” Kazuki called after him, but Ban wasn’t listening at all. It was already a little cool outside and there were less people. Ban kept on walking as a deaf-mute-blind, completely ignoring Kazuki. He guessed Ban was going back to his car, judging by the route by which he followed strictly.

Ban stepped inside his car a few minutes later and locked all the doors. Kazuki banged on the windows and demanded for him to open the doors this very moment. Kazuki walked around to go over to the window where Ban was nearest. While he was circling the small car, though, a cat came out from behind the wheel and caused him to trip over his own two feet out of surprise.

“Ow!” Kazuki said, trying to sit up properly after the huge, stupid fall. His kneecap was bleeding heavily, because of all places, it landed on a small but jagged rock. “Ooh…” he said, sucking in some air through gritted teeth.

Before he knew it, Ban was out of his car and helping him stand up. “Kazuki, you okay?” he said, as if they never had a fight. “Come here, get in the car…” Ban helped him up to the backseat of his car. “Oh, this is bad… I’m sorry, it was all my fault… Wait, I think I have some plaster strips here…” he said, fumbling about the car to look for where he’d kept the last ones.

He cleaned the wound with the water he brought in case his car overheated. While placing the bandages, he said, “Look, Kazuki, that was completely thoughtless of me… I’m sorry about the stupid things I said. I was just a little irritated at Saru-manshi in the beginning, and…”

“I have to apologize too… See, I didn’t mean to insult you that much, I don’t know what came over me… dakara, I’m really sorry…” Kazuki said in a saddened tone. “And that’s okay. I know you were only aggravated by your jealousy over Hibiki.”

“What?”

“I said, your jealousy provoked you to say those things,”

“E?” Ban paused as it dawned to him that Kazuki was just saying this to enjoy the effect on him, to see how he’d react or simply because he thought it would be fun. Ban decided he should ride on with it. “Oh, yeah… You know what, I was really, literally burning with jealousy in there. It’s all your fault. You know I’m a jealous man, so why d’you keep on doing things like this?”

Kazuki seemed to have found this genuinely cute of Ban. He pinched both sides of Ban’s cheeks as he said, “Why? Because I wanted to test if you really do like me.”

“Oh, you know you don’t need to test me,” Ban whispered, levelling his head to Kazuki’s until their noses were precisely aligned. “Don’t you trust Midou Ban’s words?” he said in a very seductive manner.

“Not really,” Kazuki teased, disabling Ban to control himself further. He always was lost whenever Kazuki was adorably being a tease like this. He kissed him, lightly at first, and gradually increasing his pace, until they were both lying down on the backseat of the small car. They were just making out freely, not caring that the other door was open and that the windows were not tinted. Ban thought it was a great idea to let every guy passing to be green with envy at how beautiful his partner was.

Unbelievable as it was, Kazuki allowed Ban to kiss him for five minutes or more. When they finally decided to stop, they saw a bird perched on top of the door, looking at them with abnormally high interest that they guessed it went by Shido’s orders.

“Darn Monkey Trainer’s sent his comrade. Hell with him. We’re leaving, anyway,” Ban said, walking over to the front of the car and staring the engine. “Saa, we’re going to your beloved Hibiki’s house,”

“Finally! I miss him already! Ooh, when I get there I’m going to kiss him until he runs out of saliva,” Kazuki said dreamily, secretly eyeing the expression on Ban’s face through the side mirror. Ban was rolling in his eyes out of frustration. “Just kidding,” Kazuki said, grinning widely as he kissed Ban on the cheek lightly. “Go Mickey, go!”

“Who’s Mickey?”

“My dog. He died the year before last year, though…” Kazuki shared.

“Right… whatever…” Ban said, looking back to ensure the safety of his car as he drove it out of the parking lot.

“This is about enough. You just have to walk to their house, we can’t go in case someone sees me,” Ban said, opening the door for Kazuki, a corner away from Minase’s killer mansion.

Kazuki stepped out of the car. “Ouch, this thing still hurts…it’s because of this darn skirt…” Kazuki said, trying to pull down his skirt so it would cover the filthy bruise and the plaster strips, evidence of his earlier mishap.

“Don’t force it. It’s impossible, anyway. That thing would reach your knees no matter how much you tug on it,” Ban said, amused at the feminine fussing of Kazuki. “And I bet Minase’d take better care of you now.”

“You know what, you’re right. At least I’ll get more reason to keep close to him 24 hours,” Kazuki joked, halting briefly to see the look on Ban’s face. “Why do you always believe what I say?” Kazuki said in wonderment.

“For all I know, you really are enjoying your stay here, aren’t you?” Ban said seriously.

“Well, of course. Brilliant food, nice treatment, big house, and kind people,” Kazuki ticked his fingers off for each one he mentioned. “What more should I want?”

“Me. I’m not there, so that’d make life bullshit,” Ban said steadily, putting his hands in his pocket.

Kazuki was obviously finding his expressions incredibly cute for a guy like Ban. He walked forward and embraced him tightly. “You know what? One thing that I surely wouldn’t be able to live without is your hug. It just feels so good,” Kazuki said, tightening his grip around Ban’s waist.

“Oh, really? That seems unlikely…” Ban replied, hugging Kazuki back. “Because I can very well squeeze you to death if you dare choose Minase over me,” Ban threatened blankly.

“Hmm… you’ll just have to wait and see…” Kazuki said, eyes closed and smiling gently over Ban’s lousy statement.

“All right then, I’m confident enough to believe that I’ll win anyway. Off you go!” Ban slapped Kazuki on the butt flippantly. “I’ll be around, don’t worry. I’ve been given enough money to be able to stay in an inn or a hotel… whichever I prefer, of course,” Ban said, trying to make Kazuki jealous.

“Suit yourself, ex-boyfriend…” Kazuki said, kissing Ban again on the left cheek. “Take care.”

“I should say that to you. Anyway, just make a way to get Solace as soon as possible. Wouldn’t it be so much better if we could just be at home, swimming in money than to stay here and do nothing?”

“Okaeri, Kasumi-san! We missed you so much!” greeted Minase as he gave him his usual greeting kiss.

“I missed you too so much that I came back already. I was supposed to stay there for more than a day,” Kazuki half-lied, half-truthfully stated, hugging Minase tightly.

“Oh, Kasumi-san, are you alright? What happened to your knees?” Megumi asked, noticing the horrible contusion on his knee.

“Oh, this… It’s nothing; I was just a little too clumsy… A cat jumped in front of me and I tripped, that’s all. No big deal,” he lied.

“No it’s not! Look, that’s a big bruise and there’s still blood coming out,” Megumi said, kneeling down to examine it.

“Better believe what she says, she’s a graduate of doctoring,” Hibiki said truthfully, leading him to the comfy couch near them.

Kazuki was smiling inwardly at how much this felt like family. He didn’t have siblings; it was at an early age that he lost his whole family. He never really felt taken care off except by Juubei who sometimes pressured him too much. But this was just perfect. Megumi was like his big sister and Hibiki was… well, he was really efficient in taking care of him, at the same time he was also unconsciously asking for Kazuki to love him back, which was a good thing because Kazuki had so much love inside that he wanted to share to people who deserved it.

“So when’re you coming back to Tokyo?” Kazuki asked later as he sat on Minase’s bed, fixing his hair.

“I dunno. Depends on Ne-chan’s schedule. I don’t have any important job in Tokyo but to make sure Lollipop’s doing great… but that’s not really urgent, so I guess I can stay her a little longer,” Minase answered, popping a CD onto his big, expensive CD player and lying down on the bed beside Kazuki. He sighed and said, “Oh, life…”

“Why? Did something happen?” Kazuki sat up close to him and played with Minase’s soft brown hair.

“Hm, nothing, really… It’s just so boring. But luckily, you came, and I have someone to court again!” Minase joked.

“Ara, if you’re gonna be my suitor, I’ll be the luckiest woman alive,” Kazuki said, hurt by his own sentence. Who was he kidding? He was no woman… Hibiki would hate him the moment he finds out about his true identity. Otoha’s Ichibyou no Refrain was playing in the background to add to the painful effect on his heart.

Hontou no watashi no koto mada dare mo shiranai… Nobody knows the true me yet…

“Well, that’s very flattering to know…” He didn’t know how it happened, but next thing he saw, Kazuki was already lying beside him. “But that’s quite impossible… You don’t have any other suitor?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Kazuki’s waist.

Usotuite tsuku ni warai, itsumo doko ka samishi katta… Lying and laughing, always, somewhere, I was lonely…

“Suitor? I do have one… But he’s hopeless compared to you,” Kazuki answered, not knowing if he really meant what he said as he thought of Ban…

Shinjiteru anata dake wo… I believe only in you…

“Really, now?” he said, coming in the form of a statement rather than a question as he sealed the conversation with a deep kiss.

Whether Ban’s face popping out of his brain was intentional or brought about his feelings was out of Kazuki’s knowledge. He was bugged by his conscience every time he was with Minase like this… It was as if Ban was watching them, getting hurt, defenceless, and left with no choice. After all, the choice was Kazuki’s to make…

Kanjiteru refurein…I can feel the refrain…

Ban awoke against his will on eight o’clock in the morning. His body felt heavy against the soft cotton covers of the bed in the inn he was sleeping at. He lay down for another fifteen minutes before he decided sleep wouldn’t knock on his door once again as it did the past night.

He went downstairs to get himself some breakfast. He was playing lazily with his rice porridge, thinking of Kazuki subconsciously.

“Chotto, onii-san, won’t you answer your phone?” said a kind looking old lady who was carrying a basket of bed sheets ready for laundry.

“O-oh…” Ban didn’t notice that his phone was ringing. “’Lo? Oh, Hevn… Hn? What? Oh, yah, got ya… Sure… He’s at Minase’s place already. I’m here at an inn. Okay, okay…” he hang up.

Twenty minutes later, he was inside his Beetle, not really knowing what to do or where to go first. Hevn said she wanted him to go back to Tokyo, but didn’t really state why. She didn’t seem urgent and demanding like always, so he guessed it wasn’t really important to be there on time. And he did promise Kazuki he’d be around, so why would he leave the place?

“Hai?” Kazuki said on the other line. Ban decided to give him a call.

“Nothing, really… Um, what’re you doing now?” Ban asked, clearly at a loss for sensuous things to say.

“Ah, you miss me, don’t you?” Kazuki teased, but immediately said, “Nothing much… Just here in my room, thinking.”

“Of?”

“Hibiki…” Kazuki tried to suppress his giggles while picturing Ban’s adorable jealous face. “And you, too.”

“Well, that’s nice. Just chill… right? Hevn called me up. She wants me to go there, so I wouldn’t be around like I promised,”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. And I think it’d do you good to go there. You must be bored right now, doing nothing!” Kazuki said credulously.

“Not really… I fancy being here more than with Hevn lecturing me about why she should get 30% of the reward money, thank you…”

“Okay, but you have to go now, or else she’ll make it 40. Take care, Ban,” Kazuki said, smiling fondly.

“Yeah, you take care too… Love you,” Ban said honestly.

Kazuki felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he heard him say this. He didn’t know how to reply. Didn’t he tell Ban that he didn’t really like him? So it would be a lie if he said ‘I love you too’, wouldn’t it? But then again, at the back of his mind he felt he was being dishonest when he said, “Okay, bye…” to end the call as he hung up.

“Ban-kun, I’m firing you,”

“WHA—? Ch-chotto! You can do that! You’re just a freaking mediator!!”

“Oh yes, I can. I brought you this case; I can choose who works in it. And this is one of the biggest ones I’ve ever had in my life. I’m not about to risk it by choosing you, thank you,” Hevn said coolly, arms crossed over her chest.

“But—! I promised Kazuki…” Ban looked ready to strangle Hevn.

“Whatever you love birds promised each other, I don’t care. I’m hiring Shido or Ginji to replace you,” she said in an end-of-conversation manner.

“Love birds?! What’re you talking about?” Ban was having an idea of why he was getting fired.

“Do you think I’m deaf? You as good as shouted to the whole world that you WERE together back in the Honky Tonk, remember? And Kazuki-san kept on denying it to me…” she shook her head disapprovingly.

Ban furrowed his eyebrows in a manner that was almost a trademark for him. “What?” Like he thought, that argument had been the root of everything. “You’re impossible, woman. Me and Thread Spool? Tell me, have you ever seen us getting along?” Ban said, trying to turn the tables.

“No, but I know for a fact that less-than-friends people don’t hold each other’s hand while walking; don’t call each other ‘girlfriend’ or ‘boyfriend’; and most of all, they DON’T make out in the car,”

Ban wanted to so badly to hit Hevn, if only she wasn’t a girl. “This is unbelievable, Hevn, it just is! You don’t know what you’re saying! That holding-hands thing was an accident; I can tell you very well how it happened. The girlfriend-boyfriend, it’s just what we pretend to be to keep away unwanted people from bothering us in Lollipop. And we WEREN’T making out in the car!! How could you trust a bird that saw us from behind? How would it see if we were kissing?! And that’s the last thing I’d want to do with another man, especially HIM! Don’t you realize that what you’re saying is stupid?!” Ban lied with so much conviction that one would almost think he was being honest.

Hevn looked in doubt when she said, “I don’t care. I’m firing you because I am. You cause potential danger to the job, and you have bad luck with money! I don’t know why I’ve considered picking you for the job… I can’t risk letting a pro like Kazuki-san to work with you, especially now that you like him. No way,”

“Hevn, have you actually thought about what you’re saying or did you just drink last night?”

“What I’m saying is final. If you’re worried about money, I’m giving you a fair amount to pay for your expenses in this job. I’m really sorry, Ban-kun, I’ll just be finding some other job for you soon.”

“No! If you’re firing me, don’t get me another job. I don’t want to be distracted. I still have other things to do and settle, even if I’m out of this damn job,” Ban insisted stubbornly.

Hevn looked puzzled at what she was hearing. Nevertheless, she agreed. Sighing, she said, “Fine. But remember, you’re in no way involved with this Solace case anymore,”

“Whatever.” Ban stormed out of the place to get some air to relax himself before he’d do anything he’d regret later on. He lit a cigarette to help calm his nerves a bit. What a great way of ending this job…

His phone felt heavy in his pocket, as if wanting to be noticed. But, really, he wasn’t in the mood to talk to Kazuki now. He kicked the trash bin beside him to release his burning frustration.

He wasn’t really sure about exactly why he was angry…It was pretty hard to convince himself that it was mostly because of the loss of that much money. But the thought of not being able to work… or stay close to Kazuki was causing much more discomfort than it should, normally.

It was all Kazuki’s damn fault. The man was just…addictive. Like a drug. He couldn’t remember any point in his life when he was being this crazy over someone as much as he is now. Like there was nothing more important in the world.

Whether I’m in love or it’s just paranoia that’s driving me to these thoughts, I can’t really point out where I’m standing at this moment…

I don’t have the power to see if I’m just being blind,

Not the ability to hear if I’m being deaf,

…I’m just left with the strength to speak what I feel, even if I’m mute…

And imperfect as it may seem, I guess this is enough to pull me through

Even for just a second.

Ban puffed out the last breath smoke that housed in his mouth for a short time. He dropped the cigarette to the ground and crushed the lit tip with his unforgiving foot.

“Have you seen Hibiki?” Kazuki asked Megumi politely as they bumped into each other in the hall.

“I haven’t seen him around… don’t worry, he wouldn’t leave without telling either of us. Maybe he’s just somewhere in the house. I’m telling you, he really likes to be by himself sometimes… Or if not, he’s just staring at his collection,” Megumi said, winking in a playful manner.

“Okay, thanks…”

“Sure,”

“Oh, Megumi-san, c-could you point to me where that collection is… I kind of forgot the way there…” he smiled guiltily. “See, I really need to talk to him about something important…” he lied, thinking this was the perfect opportunity to ask where the room is while remaining innocent.

Megumi paused in a thinking mode. Kazuki could sense she thought it was not at all too good an idea to tell him where the collection is. But later on, she figured Hibiki would be okay with this. After all, he did say that he’d been there before. “Oh, sure… There, see that doorway near that grandfather’s clock? Go there and turn right. The nearest room to your left, go inside it. There’s a small spiral staircase inside. Don’t go to the very top, look closely; coz there’s a camouflaged door near the middle… go through that door and go behind the biggest aquarium in that room. There’s a door that’ll lead to the Pink Room. You’ll be able to find your way from there, I’m sure,” she said.

Kazuki blinked a couple of times in surprise. Could he remember all of that until later when he’d tell Ban where to find that room? “Okay… I think I’ll be able to go there now. Wish me luck so that I won’t get lost,” he said, smiling, as Megumi left him afterwards.

He followed the instructions carefully. He entered the doorway which was filled with servants, working busily. He was able to find the staircase, which was literally small, and as he looked up, guessed it reached to the third floor. It was a really narrow room, only having space for the small staircase. And it was really dark. When he was fifteen steps from where he started, someone, probably one of the servants, had the brilliant idea of closing the door from where all the light came. He purposely left it open since he couldn’t find any switch to a light bulb.

“Great. This is just great.”

After a long time, he finally arrived to what was probably the Pink Room. The room he was now in was dimly lit. Some light from outside the windows came and enabled him to find the switch to the lights. It took some time before he got used to the immediate brightness, but when he did, he realized he was in the creepiest room he’s ever been to lately.

This was obviously a child’s room – a girl’s to be more specific. It appeared not to have been visited for a very long time now, maybe some eight or ten years. The walls were covered with pink stationery-wallpaper. There was a small four-poster bed trimmed with pink lining that matched the whole theme of the room.

But what was giving him the goose bumps were the dolls scattered neatly all over the room. Based on estimation, he guessed there were no less than eighty Japanese dolls and some dolls that seemed to have been brought from other countries. They were all staring eerily at space, but Kazuki felt that the beady eyes were looking directly at him. Seemingly seeing him, though looking right through him. Try as he might, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that he was being watched by someone in someway.

He walked over to the small bedside table and picked up the dusty clock-picture frame. He looked and tried to see who the two girls in the picture were, but couldn’t make it out. The glass was also clouded by dust from the inside, so he opened the lock at the back to see the picture clearly.

But all that happened as he desperately tried to open the stubborn lock, was soft children’s music being heard, coming from the clock itself. It was an old machine, and it produced a creepy distorted sound that was scaring Kazuki more than the dolls. He almost dropped the thing in surprise, but he caught it and put it back to where it came from to stop it from singing. Apparently it didn’t want to be disturbed.

He stepped out of the room as soon as possible and followed Megumi’s other instructions, supposing he came into the correct room. Well, it was a pink room… He found himself faced with only one door and another staircase as he stepped out of the room. He entered the room, and he realized that this was also the room Hibiki had led him into before. He sighed in relief and stared at the one door separating him from Solace. Now Megumi forgot to mention how to get in.

He tried knocking, just in case Hibiki would hear and open the door for him, which, to his relief, came true.

“Kasumi-san! I’m surprised that you remembered how to get here… and how’d you know I was here, anyway?” Hibiki greeted.

Kazuki couldn’t remember being so glad to see Hibiki more than he did now. He was so freaked by the Pink Room that he was still shivering now. “I didn’t remember, Megumi-san told me how to get here… she guessed that you’d be here, too,”

Hibiki laughed. “So that explains it,”

“What?”

“Why you look so ruffled. I’m surprised you didn’t come out of her room screaming. Did you, by any chance, touch her alarm clock?” he asked, amused.

“Well, I did, and I almost smashed it when it sang,” Kazuki shivered as he recalled the eerie sound he had heard a while ago.

Hibiki was laughing. “I knew it,” he said. Kazuki felt as if Minase was hiding something from him, though he had absolutely no idea what. “I would have run out screaming if I were you… well, actually, I did that before, when I was younger. Her old dolls just freak the hell out of me! I can’t believe she actually liked these things more than food. She skipped dinner a lot to play with them when we were younger,” he shared, shaking his head slightly.

“You know, she also has a collection of them somewhere in the house, I know it. She doesn’t tell me, because she thinks I’ll freak out when I find out that there are more of those dolls around… She just left those others dolls there in her old room to have me think that she stopped liking them already,” he chuckled a little. “Her collection’s probably bigger than what I have here!”

“But I do understand how she feels, though… loving some things more than anything else… Everyone would deem her crazy if they didn’t know how it feels like to have something so important, so precious to you that you’d sacrifice most things for them,” he said seriously, looking down at his jewels. “Do you think so, Kasumi-san? Do you have something you treasure above your life?”

It was hard to say no. Kazuki noticed the flame in Minase’s eyes as he spoke, which was somewhat hard to fight. He felt as if he’d be hurting him if he disagreed with him, so he just nodded.

“But for me, it’s not a thing, though… A person. I think it’s more sensible that way. That you like people over things. You know, coz these things don’t really have hearts that would make them appreciate and feel how much you love them…” Kazuki said, not knowing where those words came from.

“I guess you could put it that way…” Hibiki said thoughtfully. “Come to think of it, you’re absolutely right. Good thing it’s a person I treasure more than my things…”

Kazuki blinked a couple of times. Person? Isn’t it Solace that you’re obsessed with? “Well, I’m proud of you,” Kazuki said, thinking that it would be too personal a question if he asked who that person was. “For a second I thought you loved your jewels more than anything else!”

“Well, some things are really not what they seem,” he said. “Kasumi-san, do you know what person she’s like? The one I’m talking about?”

“No, not really,” Kazuki thought that that was a stupid question. How was he supposed to know? He didn’t even know who the person was…

“Well… she’s the best. She takes care of me all the time, since we were young…we were best friends. She’s very passionate. Once she likes something, she’ll like it forever. And she’s kind and gentle, always. Aside from being good in painting, she also plays the violin very well, plus she’s also authored a couple of books…Not to mention she used to be the star in theatre performances and some dance numbers…

“Plus, she’s the most romantic person I know…she believes so strongly that her Prince on a White Horse will come to her some day… If only she noticed I was here! She wouldn’t need any prince… But that’s why I like her very much. She’s also very kind to the poor, the sick, you know. She’s like a saint, actually, except that she’s the most beautiful one to ever cross the planet.

“But because she’s so kind, people take advantage of her… And she doesn’t really have the strength to tell them that she’s hurt. Once someone hurts her, that person can expect no mercy from me…” Hibiki said defensively.

“Wow… she must be an angel… I-is she your girlfriend?” Kazuki asked, a little hurt and jealous that Hibiki’s heart was captured by someone else, not him.

“Girlfriend?” he smirked gently. “That can never happen… No matter how much I love her, she can’t love me back like I love her. But I know she loves me, even if she doesn’t say it.”

Kazuki believed night air would do him some good after that incident with Minase in the ‘collection room’. And now, he was regretting he ever came out for a walk. He wished he just stay put and sat down like an obedient dog, at least he wouldn’t be bothered like he was now.

It was already 7 PM, and he was still walking outside by himself. Of all the places, his feet aimlessly brought him to a spot famous for being a ‘couple spot’. As highly suggested by its name, the place was packed with couples everywhere imaginable. And now here he was, walking alone, looking at everybody like a complete idiot.

It was highly strange how much seeing other couples struck him now. Back in Shinjuku, he was used to seeing a lot of couples too. But now, as he thought of it… he’d never really been given the chance to walk hand in hand with someone he loved… to show off to the world that he belonged somewhere… to someone. To his own prince…

And as if the gods were trying to tell him some undecipherable message, his cell phone rang, Ban’s name appearing on the screen.

“Hello?” A fresh, warm teardrop was silently trickling down his cheek as he spoke.

“Hey… Uhm, listen… This sounds unlikely, but, Hevn was involved, so… I just got fired a while ago, and I decided to tell you… I mean, I’m sorry it’s really too late–“ Ban paused as he got distracted by the sound on the other line. “Anything wrong?”

Kazuki tried to stifle the sound he made when he was sniffing, but it was hard. He wouldn’t be able to breathe if he didn’t do otherwise, so he had not much of a choice. He walked, heading to a dark corner behind the ramen stall he passed by so people wouldn’t think him crazy, still crying for no apparent reason. “Oh, no, everything’s fine…” he lied. “Just caught a little cold… So where’re you now?” he asked, trying desperately to sound natural.

As Ban checked the name of the fast food stall he was finishing his bowl of ramen in, he noticed the deadly familiar contour of someone he was certain he knew. He smirked silently and said jokingly, “I am… where I am. I can be anywhere I want to be,” he smiled delightedly as he added, “And right now, I want to see you,”

“Yeah, right,” Kazuki rolled his eyes as if Ban would see him. “No, really, where are you right now?”

“Right… here,” Ban appeared from the corner to Kazuki’s left.

Kazuki felt like a 90-pound weight was removed from his chest. Smiling widely, he continued to talk to him on the phone playfully. “I see. And, where’s your White Horse?”

“Dunno what you’re talking about…” Ban said, walking over to him.

“…Never mind,” Kazuki said pressing a button on his phone to end the call, now bursting into more tears, apparently without any reason conveyable with words. He was just glad that Ban was here in this very moment. And as if by instinct, or probably his body moved on its own, Kazuki found himself burying his face in Ban’s chest. He didn’t understand how a skinny, cold figure had done a very great job at calming him down and comforting him, but hell, he didn’t care. All he could think of was how absolutely thankful he was for Ban being here now.

“Now, do you still have the guts to lie to me and tell me everything’s alright?” Ban asked, patting his back gently.

For the next half hour while walking around the place, Kazuki told him everything that happened. How he felt about these and those things. He couldn’t remember being this open to anyone before, because he was a shy person. Shy and afraid that people might think him crazy or reject him. But now… he was talking freely to the most unlikely person in the universe. To someone any sane person would think was too intimidating to honestly speak of your feelings. Kazuki found it too ironic he could almost laugh.

Occasionally, they were talking about Solace, too, about what they should do now…and how Ban got himself ‘fired’ for no good reason.

“Don’t worry, I’ll negotiate it with her,” Kazuki said reassuringly. “So you can continue your difficult job of watching and protecting me,”

“I don’t need to be back in the job to do that,” Ban said lightheartedly, pinching Kazuki’s nose in a good-humored manner. “I’d do that without being told by anyone, especially without being motivated by money. Or else you’ll feel hurt, won’t you?” Ban made a long face, that of one who was saddened, to josh Kazuki.

“Oh, come on, stop trying to win me with wordplay…I don’t like that,” Kazuki said honestly, smiling dotingly at Ban’s baffled look as he waved a warning finger in front of his face.

“I wasn’t…! I’m a man of actions, remember? …And actions speak louder than words, as they say…” Ban stated, ending the conversation. What more was there left to say after Ban seized Kazuki’s lips, anyway? Right then and there, in a multitude of people, all that was left to exist as everything else faded away was the two of them sharing a kiss. A kiss not only defined as the pressing together of lips, but one that channeled an hour’s worth of conversation in a matter of a few seconds.

“Yahari, anata wa Dakkanya da ne, Kasumi-san [1]? I sensed it the moment I saw you. You looked a little too different than other ordinary women…or men,” Aira, one of the ‘Tannyeom-sisters’, said, raising a penciled eyebrow at him.

“Now, what should we tell Hibiki? Poor boy, he’d never have guessed that he’d been making out with a gay all this time…” Yuumi shook her head in the most sarcastic way she could.

Kazuki didn’t know how to reply. He was glued to his spot and petrified like a stone the moment he heard that familiar voice butt in to his and Ban’s conversation about retrieving Solace.

“Temme ra Mamoriya darou? [2]” Ban asked. He remembered hearing of a pair of sisters working for some rich syndicates, most often going undercover.

“Iya, we don’t deserve such a stupid name. And we don’t just ‘protect’… We’re not that boring,” Yuumi answered in a bragging manner, as if they surpassed all the others.

“We’re known by our surname, in case you airheads don’t know. We’re the Ikaris,” Aira paused to see the expression on Ban and Kazuki’s faces as they heard the name.

“Ikari?” Kazuki repeated. He had heard of them before, even when they were still in Mugenjou. They were highly famous for being able to sneak into very private organizations and accomplish their jobs without being noticed or caught even once.

“Huh! You’re just a bunch of kids!” Ban said in a scornful way. “We’ve got nothing to do with your job, same way that you’ve nothing to do with ours, so keep your noses to yourselves,”

“You’re retrieving the necklace for Summers, right?”

“So what if we are?”

“Then we won’t be ignoring you. Expect more of us from now on,” Yuumi warned with an air of superiority overpowering the cold atmosphere in the tiny alley they were in.

“Who cares about a joke like you? Do your job, and we do ours, period,” Ban said, ending the discussion. He turned to Kazuki. “Let’s go, before I’m charged for child abuse,” he said, both of them turning around to leave.

Ban was too busy thinking up ‘stop-kidding-me-you’re-just-ordinary-girls’ thoughts that he wasn’t able to sense the object one of them sent flying towards his direction. The sound of Kazuki’s tinkling bells as he entangled the little penknife in his strings alerted Ban.

“Oi! That nearly hit me!” Ban shouted, irritated.

“So what? I would’ve loved it if it did,” Aira said, crossing her arms over her chest in a careless manner.

Ban was starting to lose his temper. “Kuso gaki! If you want to live long, stay away from me...” Ban warned, his blood pressure shooting up.

“Huh! The nerve of you!” Aira said heatedly, raising her skirt to bring out, as Ban and Kazuki guessed, some sort of weapon.

Her sister extended her arm over Aira’s chest to stop her. “ Well, we’ll see about that soon… We’ll see ya when we see ya,” Yuumi flipped back her long red hair to the back of her shoulder as a ‘good-bye’ wave as they walked away.

Turning around, Ban cursed loudly enough for the other two to hear. Kazuki advised him to leave the situation as it is and verbally expressed how he didn’t feel like meddling with those girls.

“Why not? They’re just little kids with big mouths,” Ban asked, lighting a cigarette.

“Haven’t you heard of them? They’re very famous in the underground society, especially because they never fail in the jobs assigned to them…” Ban could detect from Kazuki’s way of speaking, that this wasn’t really what was bothering him.

“So? It’s not like we’ve ever failed. What advantage does a girl have over fighting a guy, anyway? They’re just a lump of breasts and nothing more,” Ban bragged, smirking naughtily as he shook his head.

“Well, that’s not really what I was getting at, but… They’re working for Kobayashi. They’d probably be in Hibiki’s house as early as –“ Kazuki checked his watch. “Eleven o’clock,”

“Oh, come on, it’s already 10:40! Are they some sort of super-powered killing machines that they could be that bold? They’d have to think up plans first and tell Kobayashi about it. Plus, transportation takes some time, too,” Ban said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, I know what I said was a bit of an exaggeration… But still! Shido-kun and Ginji-san haven’t even appeared yet… And how do I explain things back at Hibiki’s? Once those girls come, they’d be telling him about me being a Get Backer, that’s for sure,”

“So? You’re getting Solace back on that same moment they arrive, or even earlier. Just get it and leave that house. That isn’t so hard,” Ban convinced.

It wouldn’t have taken a genius to realize that Kazuki was having some sort of internal war, but figuring out the reason for the conflict would require the mental ability of a psychic. And luckily, since Ban always had a penchant for reading people’s mind, he had a hunch that this was not something so pretty.

Ban sighed and turned to look at Kazuki. “Whatever it is, you’d have no choice but to forget about it, Kazuki. Personal agendas are a no-no for our job; you know that very well,” Ban tried to let this out as gently as possible. Even before he spoke, Kazuki seemed really hurt already.

“Oh, yes, yes… How can I forget…?” Kazuki looked at Ban meaningfully, uttering a mental “Thanks,”

And as if hearing it, Ban replied. “Don’t mention it… I’m gonna send Saru-manshi and Ginji here first thing in the morning, so no need to worry. For now, just watch out for Solace and the two monkeys,” Ban said, Kazuki noiselessly nodding his assent.

“What about you? Are you just gonna leave it like this? I mean, I’m sure we can still fix things up with Hevn-san… You don’t really have to leave here, do you, Ban?”

Ban smiled and patted Kazuki on the head playfully. “Wherever you go, I’ll always be with you. And didn’t I just prove to you a while ago that I can be wherever I want to be? So just call me and I’m there, pronto,” Ban joked, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.

Smiling, Kazuki said, “Didn’t I warn you just a while ago against buttering me up like that?”

[1] You’re a Get Backer, after all, Kasumi/Like I thought, you’re a Get Backer, Kasumi.

[2] You’re Protectors, aren’t you?

TBC