by Sessha Batto
“Because you were too busy running away,” Yoshi said. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I didn’t bring you here for me, I brought you here for Kazu-sama.”
“What is with all the lovey-dovey stuff, then? Fine, I get it, you’re sleeping together. You don’t need to rub my nose in it.”
“We aren’t doing anything of the sort,” Kazuki interjected. “I’m sorry if it bothers you, but I love Yoshi very much and I have no intention of hiding it.”
The sage's face twisted in distaste but he held his tongue. “I’m not asking you to hide anything. I would, however, prefer not to see you stick your tongue, or anything else, down my nephew's throat.”
“If that is your preference.” Yoshi pulled Kazuki close and thoroughly explored his mouth, making sure the sage got a good look at his tongue in action. He smiled against his lover's lips at the loud groan it garnered.
“Take me back to bed, pretty?” the spell-caster entreated. The shadow wolf was quick to comply, ignoring Genki's protests as he swept the slender figure into his arms and headed back to the bedroom.
“What am I supposed to do?” the sage yelled at their retreating backs.
“Anything that doesn’t involve interrupting us,” Yoshi broke the kiss to murmur. “Unless you want him to join us, koi?”
“No, he had his chance. I told you, I won’t share you with anyone.” The shadow wolf kicked the door shut, leaving the sputtering sage to cool his heels to the sounds of their lovemaking.
****
Makoto opened his eyes, blinking several times as he tried to work out where he was. “You’re in the hospital,” a familiar voice supplied. “Care to explain why?” The interrogator looked up into the worried face of his Shuhan and merely shook his head, unable to recall exactly what had befallen him, until he noticed the figure hovering in the background.
“You!” he roared as he attempted to climb out of bed, only to fall flat on his face and refracture his already broken nose when he realized, too late, that both of his legs were in casts. “What did you do to me?” he bellowed. “I am going to kill you when I get out of here.”
“Now, now, Makoto,” Daisuke soothed. “There's no point in blaming Jun. From what I heard going out drinking was your idea.”
“I just wanted to find out more about Yoshi,” the interrogator gritted out as he attempted to reset his own nose. “I certainly never intended on ending up like this.”
“That's reassuring,” the Shuhan chuckled. “But I’m still waiting for your explanation.”
“I am afraid it is my fault, Shuhan-sama,” Jun declared. “I challenged the lover of my dear friend to a competition. Perhaps that was a bad idea when we had already been drinking.”
“Obviously.” Daisuke pinched his nose to ward off the headache prolonged contact with Jun tended to give him. “What was the nature of this competition?”
“Hand to hand combat,” Jun replied. “No weapons allowed.”
“So Jun beat you up?” the Shuhan asked.
“Not exactly,” Makoto answered in a nearly inaudible voice. “Although he did beat me, we just … there was a little confusion when I answered his question.”
“Which was?” Daisuke prodded.
“How I got so close to Yoshi,” the interrogator admitted sullenly.
“Makoto kissed me,” Jun supplied. “Then he smacked his head on the ground and I punched him in the face.”
“That explains the concussion and the broken nose. What happened to your ribs and knees?”
“Jun broke my ribs hugging me, and I broke my knees falling on the pavement. Now if we’re done with pick on Makoto day, do you think I could get out of here?”
“I’m afraid not,” Daisuke said. “You’re going to have to stay in the hospital for a few days. There's no way you can take care of yourself like this.”
“But I hate the hospital,” the interrogator whined. “The food is awful and there's nothing to do.”
“I’m sure your office will be more than happy to run your paperwork over for you,” the Shuhan countered. “That’ll keep you busy.”
“I will be honored to help you, lover of my dearest friend,” Jun insisted. “I vow to make sure your every need is catered to.” Makoto cast a panicked look in Daisuke's direction, praying the Shuhan would take pity on him and somehow divert the overenthusiastic nin from his self-appointed task. After all, Daisuke used to work with him, certainly he knows just how horrible that would be.
“I think that's an excellent idea,” the Shuhan replied with a smirk, crushing the interrogator's hopes for a speedy, and quiet, recovery. “I’ll check in on you in a day or so, Makoto. You take good care of him, Jun. I’m sure Yoshi would be upset to come home and find him injured.”
“I hate you,” the interrogator muttered, slumping lower in the bed and praying for unconsciousness to once again overtake him.
****
Genki retreated to the kitchen, turning on the radio and running the water before slumping in a hard backed chair and covering his ears with his hands, all in a futile attempt to block out the sounds currently filtering out of Kazuki's bedroom. Do they have to be so damn loud about it? Haven’t they ever heard of discretion?
Obviously not, he decided with a wince at a particularly enthusiastic warbling of the shadow wolf's name. Maybe I should go look around. He wandered out into the hall, following the maze of passageways, opening random doors and peering inside in an attempt to gain some sense of his bearings in the underground complex.
A few minutes later, Yoshi left his exhausted lover to sleep and slipped out in search of his uncle. He ghosted down familiar corridors after the sage, willing to waste some time in observation before confronting him.
Genki threw open yet another door, expecting to find an empty room. He was shocked, to say the least, to find the doorway blocked by Katsutoshi's large frame. “What do you want?” the swordsman rumbled.
“Nothing?” the sage replied, taken off guard.
“Good, Hideaki finally got to sleep. So, what are you doing here?”
“Apparently Yoshi is banging Kazuki. Quite enthusiastically if I were to judge from the noise level. I’m just trying to get out of earshot.”
“Thanks for sharing. I meant here in the complex, not at my door,” Katsutoshi grumbled. “Do you always take everything so literally?”
“Sorry, it's been a rough day,” the sage explained. “I’m here because Yoshi asked me to come, although apparently only so he could push my buttons. What's going on between the two of them anyway? And why are you here?”
“We’re here for the same reason you are, Yoshi sent for us. Hideaki couldn’t say no to his request. As for what's going on, as you so quaintly put it, they say it's love. Who am I to argue?”
“Hideaki. You don’t mean Oonishi Hideaki, do you?” Genki asked.
“Yes, why?” Katsutoshi was puzzled by the sage's reaction.
“My nephew seems to have a thing for traitors,” the legendary explained. “I can’t believe he's cozying up to that bastard.”
“Watch what you say old man,” the swordsman growled. “You don’t know the whole story. It's not mine to tell, but I swear, if you hurt Hideaki I’ll tear you to pieces. It's been good for him, being here. Takahashi-san and Nakamura-sama have helped him find some measure of peace. I won’t let you rip that away from him.”
The shadow wolf decided it was time to make his presence known. “No one will be taking anything from Hideaki,” he interjected. “You have nothing to fear, Katsutoshi, I give you my word.” The swordsman inclined his head in acknowledgment, turning to go back into the room when the slightly raspy voice continued. “How is he this evening?”
“He's doing much better, Takahashi-san, thank you for your concern,” Katsutoshi said with a bow. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on him.”
“We’ll see you in the morning then,” Yoshi replied with a smile. He clamped strong fingers on his uncle's shoulder, effectively preventing him fr
om escaping. “What were you thinking?” he hissed as soon as the door had closed. “Do you want to die?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Genki bellowed, anger rising when a hand clamped over his mouth.
“Not so loud, you’ll wake Hideaki,” the elite warned, eyes narrowing as he glared at his relation.
“Who the fuck cares?” The hand was shoved deeper into the sage's open mouth, sealing it shut. “Who do you think you are?” He attempted to scream around the barrier as his nephew watched him with lazy disdain.
“How you got to be a sage is beyond me,” Yoshi said. “Stupid and stubborn. You obviously coasted on your master's coat-tails, I can’t believe you earned that reputation of yours.”
“I…”
“…am the great Genki, Sage of Wolf Mountain, blah, blah,” the shadow wolf sneered. “You talk a good game, but all I’ve ever seen you do is drink, gamble and prey on women. Not very successfully, I might add.”
“That's camouflage,” the older man retorted. “People think I’m not paying attention to anything but pretty girls. I pick up lots of valuable intelligence that way.”
“I doubt anything you’re involved with could be labeled intelligence. Obviously you’re from the inbred portion of the clan.”
“Okay, I get it, I’m not your favorite person. So why did you ask me here in the first place? You can’t possibly think I’d go along with this.” Genki waved his hands in the air when he failed to come up with a word to describe the situation.
“To tell you the truth I had no idea. After all, Rin was in contact with Kazu-sama for years.” Yoshi observed the sputtering sage through half-lidded eyes for a moment before continuing. “However it really doesn’t matter if you like the situation or not. I asked you here so you could make amends for the lousy way you treated Kazuki all those years ago. If you have any decency you’ll get down on your knees and beg his forgiveness.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I imagine I could force you to do as I ask.” The shadow wolf gathered ki in his hand. “But I’d rather not,” he concluded as he let the energy dissipate. “I’d like to think you have a decent heart in there somewhere.”
“And what did I do that was so horrible?” the sage asked.
“Kazuki was in love with you, you stupid idiot. When he tried to confide in you about Kobayashi-sama you told him he was disgusting. He never did have the courage to tell you how he felt about your worthless ass. Why did you think he left so suddenly, even though he was being groomed to be the next Shuhan?”
“I was a teenager, I’d never even considered the idea of two men together. What he was describing was just sick.” Genki frowned. “I still don’t see the attraction. Although I have to admit, it seems a lot more common than I thought.”
“What better lover for a man than another man?” Yoshi asked with a shrug. “Who else knows what feels good, where to touch, how to touch? Who else is strong enough that you don’t have to hold back?”
“You just don’t know any better,” the sage decided. He pursed his lips and studied his nephew carefully. “You know I’m sure I could fix you up with some girls who would show you a good time. Give you a little experience, if you know what I mean.”
“No thank you. Not interested. I’m perfectly content with my choice in lovers. You’re the one who has the problem. Maybe I should fix you up with a nice hot guy who can give you some experience.”
The sage paled at the thought, shaking his head and waving his hands. “No, no, don’t trouble yourself,” he demurred. “I’m just fine, thank you.”
“So, what do I do with you then?” Yoshi asked. “You don’t seem inclined to make amends. You certainly don’t seem happy to claim me as a family member. This was a mistake. You should just go back home. Tell Makoto it won’t be long until I return.”
“Wait just a minute.” Genki rounded on the startled nin. “You can’t just dismiss me like that. I’m not some lackey you can summon on your whim.”
Yoshi grabbed the sage's shirt and yanked him forward so they were nose to nose. “Listen ‘Uncle’, I asked you here for a reason, one which I made perfectly clear in my invitation. It appears you have no intention of doing as I asked, and I won’t allow you to ruin the time Kazu has left. So either put up or get the hell out.” He dropped his hold and turned to leave, stopping to add, “I’ll send someone to show you to a room for tonight. I expect you to be gone in the morning.”
****
Genki slipped quietly back into town a week after his departure, studiously avoiding the Kobayashi no Shuhan. Therefore it would be an understatement to say that he was displeased to run face to face into a glowering Sato Daisuke.
“Oh no, you don’t.” The Shuhan began dragging the sage away by his ear. “I’ve wasted enough time hunting for you.”
“Ouch, that hurts,” Genki grumbled. “Let go of me, I’m not some child you can just drag around.”
“No, you’re an adult, which makes it ten times worse,” the Shuhan scolded, building steam as he warmed to his subject matter. “Just because you know a few secret techniques you think you can do whatever you want. Well no more!” He began tugging the reluctant sage towards headquarters, lecturing him loudly as they went. “I told you to report back to me as soon as you returned, but no, the great Genki is too high and mighty to follow the orders of his Shuhan. I’ve wasted two weeks looking for you.” Daisuke continued to tow the now red-faced sage toward his office, throwing open the door and shoving the larger man forcibly into a chair. “Now report!”
“There's nothing to report. I went, I saw Yoshi and Kazuki. The brat got pissy and threw me out the next morning. End of story.”
“What did you do?” the Shuhan chided. “I told you not to make thing worse.”
“I didn’t do anything,” the sage retorted. “Just because I didn’t enjoy watching them make out.” He came to a halt at the incredulous look on Daisuke's face.
“You told Yoshi it was disgusting, didn’t you,” the Shuhan growled.
“No, not exactly,” Genki squeaked as he raised his hands to shield his face. “I just offered to set him up with some nice women. You know, for experience.”
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you,” Daisuke said as he ran a hand over his face in dismay.
“Don’t get mad at me,” the sage grumbled. “I’m not the one consorting with traitors. Did you know he has Oonishi Hideaki there with them? That psycho gets kid glove treatment while I get tossed out like yesterday's trash.”
“That makes sense,” the Shuhan mused. “Kobayashi-sama seemed to have a thing for handsome young geniuses, Kazuki, Ren, Yoshi, Hideaki. I wonder if I could pick the others out of the records?”
“What kind of sense does consorting with traitors make?” Genki yelled. “You’re supposed to be the Shuhan, don’t you even care?”
“That's right, I’m the Shuhan, which means I make the decisions about what is acceptable and what isn’t, not you. I knew I shouldn’t have let you go, now you’ve messed everything up. You better hope Yoshi comes back, otherwise you get to explain it to Makoto … and Jun.”
The sage shuddered at the mere mention of the combat specialist, shaking his head to clear it of the images it was assaulting him with before asking in a strangled voice, “Why should either of them care?”
“Makoto is in love with Takahashi-san and has been as grouchy as a bear with a toothache ever since his disappearance. Jun is Yoshi's closest friend, and an admirer of love in all its many forms,” Daisuke explained. “Jun-san has declared it his mission to make sure Makoto and Yoshi get back together. I should warn you,” the Shuhan continued with a smirk. “Makoto has been hospitalized three times already due to his ‘help’. I shudder to think what he’d look like if Jun had actually been trying to hurt him.”
Genki's face twisted as he tried to picture the circumstances leading to Makoto's hospitalization. The interrogator was no pushover, the sage had seen the scars left by his time in the
torture chambers. He’d also seen what was left of Makoto's ‘guests’ by the time he was through with them. He didn’t even want to imagine the damage the torture master could inflict if pushed.
He was jolted out of his reverie by Daisuke's next words. “I think you should go over to Makoto's and bring them up to speed on your visit. Let them know how Yoshi is doing.”
“He should be back soon,” Genki ventured. “Why don’t we let it be a surprise?”
“Go see them, now,” the Shuhan insisted. “You really don’t want me to have you dragged there, do you?”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Shadows,” the Shuhan called, turning his head to address his black ops. “Please escort Genki-sama to Sasaki-san's, and make sure he goes inside. You’re allowed to use whatever force is necessary.”
****
Yoshi rolled on his side and studied his lover. Even in sleep it was obvious that his body was failing, the hoarse rasp of his labored breathing filling the silence in the darkened room. This is all my fault. There has to be something I can do to help him. The shadow wolf was so lost in contemplation he never noticed the pain filled eyes watching him. “It's all right, pretty.” The legendary shinobi's words shocked his lover into action.
“Don’t fuss, you’ll wear yourself out,” Yoshi admonished, even as he moved to help settle the frail figure more comfortably. His heart clenched at how fragile his lover had become. “Do you think you can eat something? I can heat some soup.”
“No, don’t leave me,” Kazuki entreated, holding his arms out to beckon the elite closer. “I want you to hold me.”
“Of course.” Strong arms carefully lifted the spell-caster and settled him in Yoshi's lap, wrapping around to cradle him close to the younger man's body. “How's that,” the shadow wolf asked as he stroked the ailing man's long, dark hair.
“I’m going to miss you, Yoshi. I wish we had more time to spend together.”
