Gemini - 2. Croquembouche

Riku shook his head slowly. The last thing he could remember was coming home after buying things for dinner, then.... No, it was no good. It was all a blank till a few moments ago when he woke up.

Mihael felt a chill go through him. "Oh... Well, no matter I guess..." he sat up, feeling like an idiot. "Are you hungry? You can order room service if you want. I'm... I'm going to shower. If you want to leave just let yourself out..."

"Ah...P..please...w..wait!!" Riku panicked a little now. "I'm...I'm sorry...." He felt like he was meant to know who he was, specially with the look on the man’s face. He looked like what Riku would imagine a model or host to look like, (Not that he had ever met any in real life.) with his dyed light brown hair that seemed to effortlessly fall in place to look perfect and a slender but toned body. The sort of men Riku saw hanging around Shibuya. (Not that he hung around Shibuya, it was too ‘trendy’ of an area for him. He only went there for school and went straight home everyday without exploring much) The sort of person Riku had no fate to cross paths with in the first place. How did he end up even in the same room with this person?

Mihael shook his head, awkwardly raking his hand through his overly processed hair. "If you were high... or off your face... it would make a lot of sense," he replied. It made a whole damn lot of sense... "Don't worry about me and please, stay as long as you want. I meant what I said about room service."

It would explain the crazy things the now docile young man had been saying to him last night, the slightly unpredictable actions, everything. If one had thought it through properly they would wonder why even if Riku HAD been under influence, his “normal” personality seemed the total opposite of what he was the night before but Mihael wanted to think drink or drugs was the cause of this surreal situation. As the alternative reason was just too much to think about.

"It...it happens to me all the time. Not remembering what happened, that is...just...I usually stay at home....." Riku said now sinking back on the bed. He didn't feel all that hungry for some reason.

Mihael wanted to think he meant Riku often went a little too wild on his nights out but he had a horrible gut feeling that wasn’t what he meant. “Well... uh... I know I don’t really have any right to tell you what to do but maybe take it easy with the partying, huh?” he said with a forced laugh. “Cos you know there’s pretty nasty guys out there who would take advantage of people... T-that’s not saying I did, mind you! It was all consensual... I hope.. Well, I mean you didn’t seem that drunk... At the time anyway... If I knew I wouldn’t have...”

A look of fear came across Riku’s eyes as he listened to Mihael talk, as if he remembered something. "I...didn't hurt you or anyone else did I?!"

Mihael shook his head. "I didn't give you a reason to. You did mention an incident with another person and a fork, but that was after you and I-" he stopped, realizing that Riku didn't remember and thus the conversation was getting incredibly awkward again, specially as the person before him didn’t seem the type to be doing any of the things they did last night.

A fork? Riku looked a bit puzzled. But he was relived about not hurting the other man... The truth was, he sometimes woke up covered in blood, blood which wasn't as far as he could see, his. With meant it came from someone or something else and he was pretty sure in Tokyo it was more likely to be human blood then an animal. But he was too scared to tell anyone else or investigate further into it. He had just sort of... hoped it would go away sooner or later. "Erm....also...Did we have sex?" he asked quietly now, going red at his own suggestion but he wanted to know.

Mihael found that blush endearing but even so, he didn't want to lie to the other. That wouldn’t be right and well he had nothing to hide. "Yeah. Yeah we did."

"A...ah..." Riku replied now, blushing harder. He himself had never had any sex that he could remember, but it seemed in these phases of time where he lost his memory, he would wake up with clear indication he had been doing something sexual.... It made him almost curious enough to want to find out how it felt, but his intense shyness prevented him from going anywhere he would meet anyone, never mind get to that degree of intimacy.

Mihael sighed. He sat down on the bed next to Riku. "Listen. I'm not ashamed of what we did last night, but I can tell it's probably not something that you'd have done in your right mind. If you want to meet me again, that's fine. I'd really like to get to know you properly. But if you just want to forget this ever happened, that's fine too."

Riku's eyes went up to Mihael. He was actually really good looking.... in his panic he had hardly even realised that... "....R...really?" he asked a little surprised. In his opinion he had thought himself not the sort of person flashy, pretty people like Mihael talked to, or even wanted to talk to. “I-I mean about the seeing..you... again...part..” He managed to say it without chickening out.

Mihael nodded, not quite sure how the sex kitten from last night and this person were the same person, but still fairly enamoured with this shyer, cuter version. "Yeah. But we'd better start from the beginning again, hadn't we?" he said with a warm smile, ignoring the surreality of this and hopeing it would reassure the other who looked very nervous. He held out his hand for Riku to shake. "I'm Mihael, or Kyo if you'd prefer to call me by my real name. I'm the front man of VENUS, we're a rock band."

Riku took his hand, shaking it. "My name is Yamashita Riku." Riku had no idea who this band was, he didn't listen to music. Popular music had been banned in the institution and even after he got out he never got into it. "Ah...you have two names? Like Western people?"

Mihael withdrew his hand. "Mihael is a stage name. It's all most people know though. I only use Miyamoto Kyo now when I'm signing official documents."

Riku blinked in confusion. "Why?" he asked. "Do you not like it?" He thought it a perfectly normal name...

Mihael shrugged. "It's my name. I'm pretty indifferent to it. Once I became famous under a stage name, it became inconvenient to keep reminding people even in my private life my real name was Kyo not Mihael so I just got used to being called something different."

"I see...” Riku didn’t fully understand what Mihael meant but he accepted it the way he was told it. “What do you prefer me to call you as?" He asked not knowing they have had this conversation before.

This feels kinna fucked up...

Mihael decided he might as well give a reverse answer this time. "Kyo's fine."

Riku nodded. "Okay." His amber eyes watched the man shyly, as if studying him.

Mihael nodded then grinned. "So, what do you do anyway? You have a job?"

Riku shook his head. "Right now, I live on inheritance..." He wasn't sure how he was going to survive after that, though. He hoped he could get a job after he graduated from specialist school. “I also study.”

Mihael looked surprised. "So your family was rich then?" he asked.

Riku nodded "I think so.....I don't really remember...." he said quietly, knowing it must sound bad, but he couldn't remember anything at all apart from the fact he had a brother before.

"Ah...Sorry, I was a little insensitive there," he apologized, running his hand through his hair again as he shifted legs. He then glanced at Riku and realised that the other would probably want a shower. Although washing away sex you didn't know you'd had was probably strange... "Do you want to use the bathroom? I can go after you if you want."

Riku shook his head, not wanting to make the other man feel bad. "N-no, no, it's okay! I don’t really mind because...I don’t remember much so it’s not like... I have bad memories either... But uh..if it's alright, I would like to have a shower..." he replied. He felt kind of sticky for an unknown reason.

Mihael nodded. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll order breakfast," he said, standing up and leaving the room so that Riku would feel it was alright to get changed.

Riku looked down at his clothes for the first time that day as he stood up. What was he wearing? It was the sort of things he wouldn't dream of wearing in a thousand years... Where did these clothes come from? Wait, had he gone out in public looking like this? The thought mortified him. He felt his face burning again at the thought, shuffling off to the bathroom.

Once he heard the bathroom door close, Mihael came back into the room and ordered a traditional Japanese breakfast, not bothering with any of the western food on offer. He personally couldn't stand a lot of the westernized rubbish that got served at breakfast time in Tokyo's hotels. While he waited for room service, he turned on the TV. He put the 24 hour news on and watched reports about various uprisings, murders and the rest of it before the entertainment section came up. There was nothing about the band, so he assumed he'd escaped scandal last night leaving the club with a potentially underage boy and that none of his band members had done anything particularly spectacular either.

A few minutes later, Riku finished his shower and came out of the bahroom wrapped in a towel. "Um...I...finished with the bathroom...Thank you..." he said his eyes going from Mihael to the floor and back to the floor many times, he did it when he was quite nervous.

Mihael looked over his shoulder at Riku and his mouth went a little dry when he saw that Riku was half naked with droplets of water still sticking to his skin. He could hardly believe that less than twenty-four hours ago he'd been able to lick and kiss that skin all over. He cleared his throat. "It's alright." At that moment room service knocked at the door and Mihael went to get it, not letting the waiter into the room and taking the tray off him. He began to set a place for them both to eat at the table.

Riku was shyly wiping himself down while Mihael had gone to get the door, dreading having to wear those clothes again. It was too revealing... But he didn’t have any other clothes as far as he could see. How was he going to get home?

Mihael finished setting the place and saw Riku was still stood there in a towel, fidgeting. "Do you want a bathrobe? There's one hanging up at the back of the door in the bathroom if you want."

Riku gave a nod, shuffling to the bathroom again and putting on the bathrobe. He came back with a small, grateful smile "Thank you..."

"Don’t mention it. Eat what you want. It all gets charged to the record company anyway." Mihael said as he thought this Riku was way too polite. Mihael began to eat too when he saw Riku start with a quick 'Itadakimasu' before he started to decimate what was in front of him. Table manners seemed to have escaped him. He had not eaten since early evening the day before and was starving.

Riku ate quietly, looking a little surprised at how fast the other was eating, ending up watching Mihael more than anything else. When was the last time he had eaten with someone else?

Mihael glanced up and seemed to remember his manners, stopping shoveling rice into his face for a moment. "Well, seeing as we've both agreed to get to know one another, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Me?" Riku blinked, surprised by the question. "Um...well....I'm 22...I live in a small place in Harajuku, I’m a third year at Le Cordon Bleu Patissierie school in Shibuya and...um....there's not too much that's interesting about me..."

"Harajuku huh?" Mihael said, smiling. "I used to hang around there when I was a teenager. Back then Malice Mizer were all the rage and we all dressed in Visual Kei. I'm glad I got out of that scene though. I think it drained my parents bank account and they seemed pretty glad when I grew out of it.” He said with a light laugh.

"What about Kyo-san? I am sure you are more interesting than I am..."

Mihael chuckled at Riku’s words. "A quick internet search will bring up more about me than you'd ever wish to know. But, if I must, I'm twenty-five. I currently am living in this suite here, but I'm originally from Sendai. My parents moved here so I could attend a prestigious music college but I never really got into the classical music scene so I started my own band. We've been relatively successful."

"I see....you must be very talented then," Riku replied, genuinely impressed as he took a sip of tea. "I think people like that are admirable, as I have no actual talent for anything, really..." Apart from effectively killing people and getting away with it. But he didn't know that. As far as he knew, he hardly stood out at school and he had no social life, mainly because he couldn’t hold much of a conversation with his classmates.

Mihael shook his head. "I don't believe that. Everyone has something special about themselves. Maybe you've just not looked in the right places?"

"Do you think so? I don't know....if I do, I haven't found it..."

"Yet," Mihael said, smiling. “Keep looking and it’ll be clear to you.”

"Kyo-san is nice." Riku said with a small smile "No one's ever said suggested that before.." He tended to be isolated in general. And it was mainly his own doing really, he knew that.

Mihael shook his head. "They should have. No one is completely useless, and looking at you I can tell you do." Besides, Mihael thought Riku had quite the talent for seduction at least.

"...Thank you." Riku replied feeling his cheeks heat up again and squirmed inwardly about it. Why did his feelings show so easily?

Kyo-san must think I’m really... weird....

Mihael found it rather cute that Riku blushed so easily, his thoughts were pretty easy to read. He was also still shocked at how different he was from the night before. Was this all some elaborate act? It seemed a bit too genuine for it to be some new seduction technique. "Do you like the food?" Mihael asked. "I ordered traditional. I don't like Western food that much."

Riku nodded "It tastes good. I've never been in such a fancy place before.." he said in wonder as he looked around. One of these rooms was bigger than his whole flat.

Mihael thought about it. "Fancy but boring. It's great to have a room like this, but without anyone to share it with... Well... There was a reason I went out last night," he admitted with a slightly guilty smile. "I'm glad I found you and not some rabid fan though."

Riku blushed harder. He found himself wondering what he had missed, and where they had even met. "But Kyo-san is so good looking...surely there are lots of people who would stay with you..."

"Yes but for the wrong reasons. Most for the money or fame. Not many people pick me for me," Mihael said, his smile not falling away. "Apparently being a nice guy isn't enough." He added with a small, light hearted shrug.

Riku looked a little shocked at that. "But....that's not nice...." He looked sad at the idea, knowing the "friends" he did sometimes have seemed that way also. It had made him not want to actively go out his way to make friends, though he had been sure till now if he had a more attractive personality and confidence (Like Mihael.) it would have been a different story but maybe it was not the case?

Mihael shook his head. "That's just people. I don't blame them. I'd probably be like that if I weren't in my position."

"W..well...I like Kyo-san because he's nice." Riku said quietly as if half to himself, a thought he had voiced by accident.

Mihael beamed at Riku. "I'm glad because I like Riku-san too," he said cheerfully. Probably a lot more than you like me too, all things considered... He put his chopsticks down. "Are you doing anything today?"

Riku shook his head "No, I'm not.." It was a weekend, he didn’t have any classes.

"Fancy coming with me and the guys to a TV studio? Don't worry, you won't have to do anything. There's usually somewhere for people to hang out. The places are really interesting," Mihael said earnestly.

Riku hesitated before he nodded, being happy he was being invited somewhere "Um..Okay..I mean... Yes!" He had never been to such a place before....god he hardly even watched TV...

Mihael grinned. "Awesome!” he glanced at Riku and realized the small problem “Do you want a change of clothes?"

"Ah...do you have any?" Riku asked surprised. He would like to be a little more dressed...

"It'll be a bit big but I have some jeans and sweaters somewhere," Mihael suggested. "Will those do?" He asked as he pulled out some that he knew were the smallest he owned.

Riku nodded, taking them gratefully "I always find clothes like those in my room.....I must buy it without realising but I don't know why I would..." Riku said quietly starting to undress as he motioned to the things he was wearing the night before.

Mihael looked away as Riku began to undress, not entirely sure he was allowed to look and instead staring at the PVC hot pants on the bed. "That.. Sounds strange. You'd tend to remember something like that."

"I'm a bit scared...I might be ill again..." Riku said quietly. He didn't want to go back, somehow he was terrified of hospitals now.... he didn't really know why either.

"Ill?" Mihael asked. "What do you mean? You don't look ill. You look fine..."

"No....my....my mind.....maybe I'm doing things without realising.....it might mean I'm getting bad again..."

Mihael frowned, trying to puzzle out what Riku was saying. "You... You have blackouts?"

Riku nodded "A little bit like last night. I don't remember anything sometimes. Specially in the evening..." He knew really he should go back to the day clinic of his institution but he was terrified of something...he didn't know what, but it made him reluctant to go back to have a check up.

"So last night... You weren't drunk or whatever... That was... a blackout? ...and like..another you who takes over?" Mihael asked, that uneasy feeling coming back. Surely this kind of thing only happened in books and films?

"M...maybe....I don’t really know but uh...was I....very different?" Riku asked, knowing whatever was buying his clothes didn't share his taste.

"You didn't speak to me until after you'd taken a strawberry out of my mouth," Mihael said, somewhat shamefaced. It was a bit embarrassing to have to admit things like this in broad daylight.

Riku blinked a few times, totally confused as to what that meant. It made no sense to him what’s so ever.

Mihael sighed at the blank look he was given. "Well, lets put it this way. You practically scream sex when you're like that and..." Mihael blushed a little. "You're very, very sexy. Irresistible in fact."

Riku made an almost squeaking sound and went bright pink right then, dithering about half naked and totally embarrassed, jumper in one hand. No one had ever said that about him before, whatever was going on with him in blackouts. Saying that it was the first time he had ever heard of anyone saying they had met this “other” him.

Mihael saw Riku blush and chuckled. "You have your charms when you're like this too though..."

“A-ah...I-I mean...Really? Um...no...nevermind...er..Thank you?” Riku was now trying to put the jumper he was given on with fumbling hands and dropping it.

Mihael grinned. "You're cute when you blush," he told him, enjoying making Riku squirm. Maybe this Riku might be interested in him too? He thought about it for a few moments. A relationship at this stage of his career would be disastrous, but Riku didn't seem the kind to be flaunting it. Perhaps he could try to win the shy schizophrenic over...

Hey Kyo, this is kinna, I mean so, totally fucked up... Why are you even considering this?

"I...." Riku didn't know what to say, he had never thought of himself as any of these things this man said, and it coming from such an attractive person made his fumbling worse. He pulled the jumper over his head, telling himself to calm down.

Mihael decided to let up on him. "Well, today should be interesting anyway. You just have to avoid saying too much to anyone who isn't either me or one of my friends. Reporters tend to wander into sets and try to get the staff to talk..."

Riku nodded. He hardly talked to anyone anyway so that was easy for him. He was ready now, the jumper a little large on him and exposing one shoulder but that couldn't be helped.

Mihael nodded. "A bit big but still looks alright," he said. He looked at the bare shoulder and remembered burying his face in it only hours ago when he'd been inside Riku. He shook his head. "I've got to get dressed," he muttered, making his way to the bathroom. “I’ll have a super quick shower and be out in like, 10mins tops.”

Riku nodded, pulling the jumper up to cover the shoulder only to expose the other side. It was a losing battle so he gave up. "I...I'll wait over there..." he said pointing at a chair by the door.

As promised Mihael had a breif shower and threw on the first things he found in his suitcase, roughly drying his hair enough so it wasn’t dripping water down his back. The stylists would redress him once he got there anyway so it didn’t really matter what he looked like right now. He found Riku by the door and smiled. "Shall we?"

Mihael led him out of the room and, unlike the night before, to the official elevator. He pressed the button. "My other bandmates are at other hotels around the city. We tend to split up to avoid the press."

Riku nodded "Then Kyo-san's band is famous?"

Mihael shrugged. "It's becoming so." He replied modestly. "As things stand, it's more a precautionary measure. You never know when your popularity will literally explode. Our second single is released next week. Apparently we have quite a good chance of getting number 1 spot on the charts."

Riku looked impressed. “I-I see... that sounds like it must be a lot of hard work and stress...”

Mihael nodded. "I gave up a lot to be famous, I guess." he replied as the lift arrived and they got into it. Hopefully this one wouldn't break on them.

"Is it worth it?" Riku asked, speaking as the thought came to him. It almost sounded like it wasn't for Mihael the way he spoke.

Mihael shrugged as the lift went down. "To a certain extent. I think I'll probably regret it in a few years time though. But well... we gotta see huh?"

"But you can't stop?"

"I... I can, but I'm famous enough that people won't just forget me because I want them to..." Mihael smiled as the lift pinged open. "Kind of B-list still though." It wasn’t the only reason and Mihael knew that but well it was the answer he was going to go with for now.

"I see..." Riku nodded. He never wanted attention from large amounts of people so he would never understand. It sounded like a terrifying prospect for him.

Mihael shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He looked out of the front of the hotel. "Come on. The valet will fetch a car."

Riku nodded, staying close to Mihael. Most people scared him, but this man it felt different somehow. The car arrived quickly and Mihael held the door open for Riku when it did. He spent the car journey talking about random things to do with showbiz. They meant nothing, to be honest, it was more to fill the silence but Riku seemed to be a very willing listener. Riku was genuinely interested, he actually found it facinating, all the sort of things he didn't know about. From what it sounded like, it was totally a different world to the small one he lived in.

The car pulled up outside a nondescript building that really wasn't that spectacular. Mihael got out of the back of the car and waited for Riku before going inside. Although it was modern, it was still boring looking. Functional. "We're headed to the fourth floor. That's where the biggest studio is."

Riku nodded, his eyes wandering as he followed Mihael like a shadow. It was so big..... like one could get lost and never come out... People were rushing past him in the endless seeming corridors that led to more corridors.

The studio itself was fairly large and Mihael was met with a series of shouted greetings from various people. He smiled and said hello, putting an arm around Riku's waist so he wouldn't get left behind. He leaned forward to talk into Riku's ear. "See those guys over there who are trying to look cool by not coming to say hi?" he pointed to three men, all with hair dyed various shades of light brown. "Those are my bandmates. Cassius, AD and Lapse. Doesn't matter if you can't tell them apart, they're always together," he winked.

“Hey we heard that, Mihael! Hi guy Mihael brought with him!” Cassius shouted back, waving at Riku. “For the record, we aren’t always together, that would be just weird!”

Riku felt his heart race a little at being pulled close. He scolded himself, saying it was a casual touch, people did stuff like that normally right? It was just he had never been that close to anyone for it to happen. "A....ah yes...." he nodded, not even noticing that his answer sort of didn’t make sense.

Mihael recognised Riku's flustered state and smirked, his arm tightening around Riku's waist. "How about-" his mouth snapped shut when he saw a flash go off. He turned around seeing a rather flustered looking make-up aide trying desperately to hide a camera. His expression darkened as he stalked forward.

"I imagine you're going to give me that as a memento, aren't you?" he said. The frightened aide seemed to be thinking about fleeing. Obviously she had forgotten about turning the flash off. Others in the studio were calling security to get her removed. Mihael took the camera and handed it to his manager who was trying to get a handle on the situation, turning back to Riku and forcing a smile on his face. "Lets get you sat down, hm?"

Riku didn’t get at all what just happened, but nodded "Y..yes..." he sat down obediently on the chair he was told to sit at.

Mihael planted a discreet kiss on his head and flashed him a smile before making his way to the band. He was greeted by one of them grabbing him around the neck and rubbing their knuckles against his scalp. A few crude jokes about Riku were bandied about before the presenter of the show appeared and started to manoeuvre them about. It was a simple question and answer session for the band and Mihael found he kept on looking at Riku. The host seemed to notice his distraction and made a few jokes about there being a pretty camerawoman. Mihael laughed it off and made a joke in return about it possibly being true however inwardly felt embarrassed that it was that obvious. He never acted like this...

Riku felt his chest jolt every time Mihael caught his eyes. He was falling for the man so fast even he couldn't stop himself, even if he had noticed the signs which he hadn’t. The kiss he had been given earlier, he could swear that spot still tingled....

Mihael was glad when it was over and he could get away from the host. He realised that he'd not been styled and sighed at what he'd chosen to wear. It'd be all over the fan blogs he was sure. He found he didn't care though when he walked over to Riku. The band followed. AD was the first to get to Riku and he sat down next to him, laughing. "You can't seriously be here with this idiot? When you left the club with him last night we thought he'd picked up a prostitute!"

Mihael scowled, hitting AD on the back of the head. "Watch your mouth."

So he had been seen leaving after all....

“Hey, Mihael are you seriously mad?” AD said a little surprised, raising his hands as if to say he didn’t mean it seriously. Usually Mihael was pretty laid back and didn’t take the banter seriously...

Riku blinked, taken back by being directly addressed like that. "A....I...." He wasn't sure what to say, just felt like hiding in a corner. He edged away from the man as a more obvious reply rather than words that seemed to have left him.

Mihael crouched down next to Riku's other side, putting his hand on his knee. "Don't listen to him, Riku. We both know what really happened last night. And I didn't pay," Mihael narrowed his eyes at AD. "Riku and I haven't done anything like that, have we?"

Riku could only shake his head. A part of him wished he remembered last night- even if he was a little (or very) inexperienced, he was at and way past the age one would start getting curious about sexual relationships.

Mihael ignored the disbelieving looks from his band members who had known him since school thus knew him enough to know that was totally a lie. "Come on Riku, let's ditch these guys," he said, standing up and holding out his hand.

“Mihael’s on White Knight mode, man I haven’t seen that since...uh...what was his name? You know the one he totally fell in love with when we were first year!” Cassius started as he lounged on one of the chairs.

“Oh yeah, oh man I don’t remember but I know who you mean! The one that looked like he’d give good blow jobs right?” AD joined in, laughing.

“Well if Mihael-sama is so smitten this guy must be really good in bed.”

“Totally.”

Mihael scowled even more, knowing it probably was making Riku uncomfortable even if this was their normal behaviour.

“Hey Kyo. Can I come along with you guys for a bit?” Lapse finally spoke in his low, always calm voice. Even though he was AD’s biological twin, he had the total opposite personality to the drummer of VENUS.

Mihael didn't really want to share Riku, not when he was working on getting to know him, but he could hardly deny his friend. Out of the band, Lapse was the most considerate and the one Mihael shared most in common with. He and Riku would probably get on well. "It's up to Riku," he said, turning to him slightly. "Will you mind if Lapse comes along?"

Riku took his hand shyly, excusing himself to Mihael's band mates in an almost incoherent mumble before taking Mihael’s outstretched hand. “N..no not at all," he replied shaking his head.

Lapse glanced at Mihael and Riku's joined hands before looking away without a word, his expression neutral as usual. He put his hands in his pockets. "Where are we going then?"

"I was thinking of dropping Riku back at his apartment first so he can get some of his own clothes. Mine don't fit him well," Mihael explained. He was kind of fond of that bare shoulder though.

"If...if we could that would be wonderful.." Riku replied, feeling bad for taking Mihael’s clothes.

Lapse nodded, but he was watching Riku almost warily as Mihael led them out of the studio. He'd seen Riku before in another club they had visited in the past and seen him leave with an older man. He'd been nothing like the shy, blushing thing here and it made Lapse wonder if his friend was being played with.

Riku could feel the bassist’s eyes on him as they walked down those long corridors and wondered what was wrong. Maybe he had said something bad? Or was it the way he acted? Did he offend him in some way? Or maybe someone like him shouldn’t be around Mihael and he was being judged? He looked over nervously at Lapse and their eyes met for a few moments before Mihael, not noticing the tension announced they secured a cab.

"Riku, the driver needs your address, can you give it to him?"

“Ah- O-ofcourse!!”

Riku told the driver his address as they got into the car, the doors opened and closed automatically. Since when did they do that? Once he sat down, Riku glanced at Lapse again to see the man wasn’t looking his way anymore. Maybe he was just imagining things? He got nervous around strangers...

Lapse sat on Riku's other side, his attention drawn to the outside of the car. Mihael started talking about the interview and how it went, mostly to himself as neither was replying. He was in a decent mood now, tying to get Riku's attention with a small smile, lightly brushing his hand against Riku's arm as he spoke. Lapse just watched them now, looking slightly bored.

Riku felt like electricity brushed him whenever Mihael touched him, making his heart beat that bit faster against his chest. Was this normal? He wasn’t sure as no one had ever touched him this much before. Mihael’s hand drifted down onto his lap, sliding between his legs. It didn’t slide up however, Mihael just let it stay there suggestively as he turned to Lapse, beginning to talk in bandspeak for a moment. Lapse's eyes seemed fixed on the window while Mihael spoke to him, giving one word answers.

Soon they pulled up outside Riku's apartment block and Mihael withdrew his hand from Riku's leg. "Want us to wait down here?" he asked.

"It's...it's up to you, I won’t be long." Riku replied, he had hidden spare keys in a special spot in the ground under his own plot of garden as he was afraid he'd lock himself out like this one day. He got out of the car, making a beeline for the spot.

Mihael was about to follow when Lapse grabbed him and pulled him back into the car. "Kyo, can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Sure, what is it?” It was unlike Lapse to say something like that.

“Do you know what you're doing? That kid... he's bad news."

Mihael folded his arms with a frown. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Lapse caught Mihael's eyes. "Look. I've seen him with... a few men... I’ve heard what he’s known for" Lapse wondered if it would get through to Mihael. "Stuff like compensated dating. And that’s not the worst bit, some of those guys end up on the news, Kyo. Cos they die. That’s pretty fucked up if you ask me."

Mihael knew that Lapse was worried about him, but he was pretty certain that Riku wasn't responsible for the death if that was true and probably most of it was baseless rumours. "Look, you don't know him-"

"And you do?" Lapse pressed. He was aware they might just be nasty rumours but it didn’t change the fact that Riku boy’s personality had done a 360 from last night and that itself was enough reason to stay away in his eyes.

Riku found his keys, making his way into his flats as fast as he could. He ran into his apartment, stripping off the jumper and trousers and going over to his closet to pull out light grey trousers and a similar looking soft pink jumper to the one he had one before, it was just falling off him less. He put Mihael’s clothes in the wash basket, making a mental note to wash and return them as soon as possible. He then went to his desk, where his keys lay next to his text books. He had left them afterall..... He sighed, going over to the small fishbowl on the kitchen table and feeding Tasaburou the black bubbleeye before toeing his coverses on and going back out of the door, keys in hand atleast this time.

Mihael was standing on the sidewalk on his own when Riku returned after burying his spare key where he had got it from. Lapse was gone and Mihael didn't look happy either. Riku wondered what happened in the 10 minutes he had been away. "What happened? Where did Lapse-san go?" he asked softly.

Mihael shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Lapse thinks he's seen you around, but it must have been someone else."

".....Did he not like me? Did I do something wrong?" Riku asked worriedly now.

"It's nothing to worry yourself over," Mihael replied, smiling a little. "It's more that he's concerned for me. He thinks we're a little too close too soon."

"....are we?" Riku asked, unsure. He didn't know about relationships afterall. He didn’t want to be the cause of Mihael having arguments with his friends, he wasn’t worth that...

Mihael shrugged. "It's not his place to say, is it?" he pointed out, holding out his hand. "Come on, we can get lunch together," he looked over Riku's outfit. "You look nice by the way," he added with a smile in attempt to reassure Riku who looked worried.

Riku felt his face colour slightly, his chest fluttering at his words. "A...ah..yes....and...thank you..." he nodded, taking Mihael's hand, letting himself be pulled closer to the other man.

"What do you like to eat?"

"Um....." Riku thought about it. He didn't have such strong likes or dislikes... "Omu rice?" He hardly ate outside, it was a side effect of not having friends or a lover. He mainly made his own meals at home or had lunch at the school cafeteria.

"Omu rice?" Mihael laughed. "I haven't had that in ages! Omu rice it is then!" he said, using his phone to check where the nearest shop was that sold the dish. He had been eating food that his manager had given him which was usually convenience store food from a bag or if he was lucky, restaurants that were paid for by a company wanting to do a deal with them.

Riku smiled, slowly edging a little closer to Mihael. The man felt comfortably warm, and he liked being with him. Alot. He wasn’t sure how close he was allowed to get to him without it being inappropriate or weird. He wanted to take Mihael’s hand but... Was that okay? Well Mihael had offered him his hand many times that day so it was okay, right? Or was that kind of thing something you have to wait for the other person to initiate? Human relations was hard....

“Ah found one, it’s a 15 minute walk from here,” Mihael was oblivious to Riku’s emotional battle over whether or not to take his hand and was busy looking at his phone screen and matching it up with the road in front of him. “I think it’s... yeah it’s this way.”

He started to walk towards the direction he had indicated when he felt a small tug at his sleeve and looked down at his free arm that wasn’t holding his phone to see Riku had taken hold of the hem of his top. With a warm smile he twisted his wrist, catching Riku’s hand in his and threading fingers together before leading them in the direction his phone told him to go.

Riku was increasingly aware of his heart beating faster.

Is this what it felt like to... like someone?

Mihael took them to a small, family owned restaurant that seemed to serve large portions of fairly cheap food. "I have no idea what this place is like. Have you been before?"
"But it looks nice..." Riku replied looking at the menu board outside.

“Well let’s go in then!” Mihael said opening the door, finally releasing Riku’s hand.

They got sat down and given menus. It seemed pretty popular for such a small restaurant, most of the tables were full. It was mainly high school girls on girl’s day outs (It was a weekend) and a few couples on dates.

The waitress came not long after to take their orders and left soon after. Riku fiddled with his hands idly once he had no menu in his hands. Come to think of it, it was the first time he had gone somewhere with someone he liked... Was this what people called a “date”? Or was he looking too much into this? People ate out together right? Was it one of those?

Mihael watched Riku fiddling and wondered what they should talk about. "Did you enjoy yourself at the studio?"

"Y..yes...I've never seen somewhere like that before..." Riku nodded rapidly to try and show he meant it.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be a better host for you. Next time I'll show you around properly. One of the camerawomen has a soft spot for me and she'll let us play with one for a while so long as we don't break it."

Riku shook his head "N-no! Not at all! Kyo-san has been so nice to me! T-thank you..."

Mihael smiled and leaned forward, leaning to Riku’s ear. "I'll let you in on a secret: I've got ulterior motives in being nice to you," he said in a quiet voice.

Riku blinked innocently, his eyes wide "....w...why?" He saw no reason why someone would be nice to him to get something- he didn't have much. His inheritance wasn't exactly billions.

Mihael wanted to eat him at that point. "If I told you you'd blush."

Riku tilted his head a little, not understanding but feeling a little like a lamb before a wolf at the gaze the other man was giving him.

"You realise this is a date, don't you?"

Riku chewed his lip, now toying with the straw on the soda that had arrived. "A...date...?" So it was a date. It felt so odd- it was the kind of thing everyone did but not him. Things he heard his classmates talk about when they were sharing tables for practical classes.

Mihael nodded. "Uh huh. Have you not been on one before?" Juding from his reaction it wasn’t an insulting assumption.

Riku shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He knew at his age he should have...

"Now I feel privileged," Mihael's smile widened. "You're not lying to me though, are you?"

Riku shook his head. "I...I know I should have dated by now......" It was just most people scared him alot. He knew it was an illogical, baseless fear as he had never had any actual bad experiences but it was like a gut feeling, an instinct.

He must think I’m really weird now... What should I do....

Mihael shook his head. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm honoured you let me have your company." He meant it too, though on second thoughts he thought it sounded a bit like a cheap chat up line but he hoped Riku would understand.

Riku smiled a little shyly. "....Kyo-san always makes my bad points sound good..."

"I have a way with words," Mihael said smiling. The food had arrived and Riku’s face lit up.

Riku said his thanks and unwrapped the spoon to start eating. "Wow it's good.." he said with a smile.

Mihael began to eat as well, not quite as impressed as Riku was. At least it was edible. "Glad you like it. It'd have been a bad date if the food had been bad.."

Riku shook his head "If it's with Kyo-san I'm happy."

Mihael really wanted to pat Riku on the head at that. It should be illegal for someone to be this cute... He ate some more of the omurice, watching Riku eat.

Riku finished, drinking up the green liquid in his glass and toying with the cherry, licking the soda off it. His lips closed around the red flesh now, biting into it. Mihael was struck by how similar that was to the night before. He watched Riku's tongue licking the droplets of moisture from the skin of the cherry and he felt transfixed.

Riku realized he was being watched and gave the other man a confused look, wondering why Mihael was watching him like that. Did he do something weird?

Mihael shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. His trousers felt tighter than they should have done. He fidgetted a little, swearing inwardly.

"Um...are you okay, Kyo-san?"

Mihael nodded quickly, maybe a little too quickly. "You're just... very innocent, aren't you?" he muttered, adjusting his trousers and resisting the urge to groan when the fabric rubbed against his crotch.

"Ah....I am told I do not know the world so well, sometimes." Riku said, he assumed that meant the same as being innocent. "Gochisousama!"

Kyo finished off his food and ran a hand through his hair, sitting restless for a few moments before he couldn’t put up with it any longer. "I have to go to the bathroom," he said, quickly dashing from behind the table and heading to the restroom. Riku nodded, watching the man leave for the bathroom door rather hurridly and wondering why.

Once inside, Mihael splashed some cold water on his face. "Go down goddamnit. You don't want to scare him away completely." he growled to himself. He took a few deep breaths before wiping his face with a paper towel probably meant for hands. Mihael finally managed to get himself under control, walking back to the table with a somewhat shaky smile. "Ready to go?" he asked. Before Riku could reply, a young girl, probably high school age stood awkwardly with one of her friends pretty much pushing her forward at their table.

“Um... excuse me...”

Mihael realized he might have been recognised, and put on his “business” face as he turned to face her.

“Are you... Mihael from VENUS?” The girl asked shyly, looking between her friends to the floor to Mihael.

“Yeah, I am.”

A series of squeals and ‘I-told-you-so’s were heard from the group of girls.

“Um...I’m sorry for disturbing your private time but um... I just wanted to tell you I’m a big fan of yours!”

Mihael smiled at her. “No it’s fine, and thanks for saying that! I’m happy you are supporting me!” The words seemed to make the girl’s face light up.

“N-no problem! I-I hope your single goes well next week! I’ll definitely buy it!”

Mihael posed for a quick photo with the girl before excusing himself, beckoning Riku to leave as the girl went to sit back down.

I gotta be more careful from now on.... sunglasses and face mask time huh?

“Thank you for the food, Kyo-san.” Riku said as they left.

Mihael shrugged. "It wasn't exactly expensive," He was glad for the fresh air around them outside. He took a deep breath. "Should we go back to your place or do you want to come to mine? It seems we can’t get much privacy in public anymore....that is, if you aren’t sick of me already." he added with a small smile to show he was joking. It was pretty early in the day so he had some time he could stay out but he assumed sticking around here might not be good if he was starting to be recognised.

"A...ah....whichever would suit Kyo san best. I don't mind..."

“Hey! I asked first and plus- it’s kinna my fault we can’t continue this date so you can choose.”

"U..um...then...my place?" Riku said, he generally felt nervous by new places.

Mihael nodded, hailing a passing cab and letting Riku get on before getting in himself, telling the driver the address he had memorised from earlier. He leaned forward a little, kissing Riku's cheek . "Your place it is."

Riku made a small sound when he was kissed. The irregular heartbeat had returned now and he slowly edged himself closer to Mihael. He felt the other man’s arm wrap around his waist, pulling them closer. Riku warmed to the touch- this man had such a strange effect on him.....he wasn't scared of him at all...Infact it felt good, a warm, fuzzy feeling spreading through his chest. Slowly, as if unsure, Riku’s head moved closer to Mihael’s chest, moving closer and closer until they touched. When Riku didn’t get a negative response from Mihael, he slowly relaxed, laying his head fully on the other’s chest. After a few moments Mihael’s hand at Riku’s waist started to stroke the skin there through his clothes in an affectionate, almost soothing manner. Riku finally understood why he had seen couples around his school campus doing stuff like this. It was... a really nice feeling.

So this is what it feels like... to like someone.

Soon they had reached outside Riku’s flat and Mihael paid for the cab and stepped out, letting Riku open the door for them.

The flat itself wasn’t very large but it was neat, with a homely feel. Furniture was in pastel shades of green and yellow were dotted around the flat, a small study desk in one corner and a bookshelf full of baking cook books and textbooks related to the subject. A semi double bed in the other corner of the room and an arch leading to what probably was the kitchen and bathroom. The whole place smelt faintly of something sweet, a similar scent to what Riku smelt like.

"Would..you like anything to drink?" Riku asked as he took off his shoes, putting them on the shoe rack near the door.

Mihael thought about it. "Coffee? If you've got any," he suggested. He took in the flat, which was quaint and... very like the Riku he was with now. Obviously the ‘other’ Riku didn't get a say in furniture shopping, it seemed.

Riku nodded, going over to the kitchen and putting the kettle on. He had never invited anyone here, he realized now. So many firsts in one day... It made him happy- he was taking steps forward in being the sort of person he always wanted to be- confident, normal, not scared of everything, someone sure of themselves.

Mihael sat down on one of the plush seats and realised he still had his shoes on. Wincing he crept over to the door, removed them and walked back to the couch, wriggling his socked toes as he sat down. Riku came back with a mug of coffee, putting it down on the table before Mihael with a small shy smile. Mihael smiled back and picked it up, sipping the coffee. It was a little too hot to drink right away. He patted the sofa next to him, wondering if Riku was going to sit down or not. Riku sat down obediently next to him, slowly edging closer to him.

Mihael smirked and took another sip of coffee, wincing when it burned. He put it down and put his arm over the back of the sofa so that Riku could press against his side if he wanted. He rested the other hand on the arm of the sofa. Riku was slowly moving closer, pretty much on top of him by the time a few minuites had passed. He inhaled Mihael's scent, feeling comforted by it as he buried his face into the other man’s chest.

Mihael lowered his arm from the back of the couch to around Riku's shoulders, drawing him in even closer in a soft embrace so Riku was sitting on top of him, straddling his lap. He placed a kiss on Riku's temple while a hand went on Riku’s chin to gently coax him to raise his head before his lip trailed softly down the blonde’s cheek before pausing, his lips hovering a few millimetres from Riku’s before he pressed them together.

Riku felt his heart almost fall out of his ribcage. Mihael's lips felt so soft... He found himself kissing back, a little clumsily. Light kisses turned into deeper ones, becoming more and more sensual in nature.

Mihael’s hand went to stroke the back of Riku’s neck while the other wandered under his shirt, softly running his fingers down the other’s spine, tracing a soft line as they kissed.

Riku's heart was beating wildly now, his body curving to the man's touch. It felt so good... He was feeling hot, as if his clothes need not be there.... He pressed his body against Mihael’s as they broke the kiss, both a little breathless.

“You liked that?” Mihael asked softly, Riku’s face was slightly flushed and it was rather tempting just to jump him there and then but he was using all his self control not to do so.

A nod from Riku was all he needed to carry on, sliding Riku's jumper up his body, stopping when it was above his nipples. He pressed more kisses down his bare chest, savouring the soft skin under his lips.

Riku's head was feeling unusually light...sleepy almost....a strangely familiar feeling.

No...It... can’t be... Not now...

Riku's eyes became glazed even as he fought back the feeling, his hand tightening on Mihael's shoulder where he had placed it as increasing sleepiness filled his mind, all he could hear was the rapid beat of his own heart. Riku felt like crying as his mind blacked out, his eyes closing. He stayed still for a few moments, making Mihael stop what he was doing as his partner was acting strange.

When they opened again, Riku winced at the bright afternoon sunlight filling the room, it made his eyes hurt. He made a groaning sound, drawing back sharply from Mihael, almost pushing him over as he ran to the window, drawing the curtain.