FIC: A Night at the Nebula, Part 2 of 2

[geri_chan]

Title: A Night at the Nebula, Part 2 of 2
Rating: PG
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love), Love Control
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka, Okumura/Yamashiro
Characters: Kikuchi and Onozuka from Haru; Okumura, Yamashiro Kei, and Sasatani from Love Control
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Word count: ~3,500
Sequel to: Remembrance of Times Past (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Summary: Kei and Onozuka demand to know the truth about Kikuchi and Okumura's past connection.

Part 1

***

Kei and Okumura took their leave, then returned to the latter's private office. "Oh, come on, Kei," Okumura cajoled as Kei glared at him. "I don't know what you're so mad about--I told you that Kikuchi-san is only a friend!"

"Look me straight in the eye and tell me that nothing happened between you and Kikuchi-san in America!" Kei demanded.

"Ah...well..." Okumura temporized nervously, then sighed and admitted, "Okay, we did have a brief fling when we first met, but that was long before I met you, and it didn't mean anything--it was purely physical."

Kei did not find that reassuring at all, and in fact, it only increased his jealousy to know that Okumura really had slept with Kikuchi. Rationally, he knew that it wasn't realistic to expect Okumura to have had no other lovers before him--and to be fair, Kei hadn't exactly been a virgin when he'd met Okumura, either. But Kei didn't feel like being rational or fair when he thought about his lover having sex with another man (or woman, for that matter), especially a handsome and famous movie star.

"Kei," Okumura said quietly, reaching out to place a hand on Kei's shoulder. "It was little more than a one night stand, and it ended when I went back to Japan. Even if we hadn't been living in different countries, neither of us was interested in a serious relationship at the time. I swear, there is nothing more than friendship between us now."

"Are you sure?" Kei asked in a sullen voice. "The two of you seem to get along very well. If Kikuchi-san had moved back to Japan sooner, maybe you would have ended up with him instead of me."

"Never," Okumura said quietly, but with such absolute certainty that Kei couldn't really doubt him. "I had fun with Kikuchi-san, but it wasn't love. He offered to let me stay overnight at his place when we first met, but I couldn't fall asleep in the same room with him." He added in a tender voice, "You're the only one that I trust enough to sleep beside, Kei."

"All right, I believe you," Kei relented, a bit grudgingly. It was hard to remain angry when Okumura was staring at him with such sincere emotion in his eyes. And despite all the jealous bickering that they both indulged in from time to time, he knew that Okumura really did love him.

However, that didn't mean that he was ready to forgive Okumura just yet. When Okumura smiled in relief, Kei said sharply, "But I still don't understand why you were so eager to arrange a double date with your ex-lover!"

"I don't consider Kikuchi to be an ex-lover because I was never in love with him," Okumura replied in an outwardly calm and even voice, although Kei could sense an underlying hint of frustration beneath it. "I was introducing him to you as a friend, because that's all he is to me now. Besides, I thought you might enjoy meeting Kikuchi-san. Most people your age--and mine, too--were big fans of his movies before the scandal."

Kei shrugged and replied, "I'm not really into action films," with perhaps more indifference than he would have shown if Kikuchi hadn't once slept with his lover. Actually, Jin had dragged him to see "Tokyo Countdown" years ago, and Kei had found the movie entertaining enough. He couldn't really have called himself a "fan" even before he'd learned about Kikuchi's and Okumura's past history, though. Kei might enjoy watching a movie or TV show, but he had little interest in the actors beyond that momentary pleasure--and certainly no interest in tabloid gossip about their private lives. Ironically, Jin was the one who'd been a fan, and no doubt would have been thrilled to meet Kikuchi. In fact, if Kei should happen to mention tonight's date to him--something Kei had no intention of doing--he'd probably want to know why Kei hadn't gotten Kikuchi's autograph for him.

On the other hand, maybe he should have gotten that autograph for Jin, since it would make Jin's little brat of a lover jealous. By now, Kei had accepted that Azumi was a permanent fixture in Jin's life, and more importantly, was not an adverse influence on Jin's work as a furniture designer. If anything, the opposite was true, but Kei still took a bit of spiteful pleasure in bullying the boy occasionally.

Kei smiled faintly at the thought, which caused Okumura to glance at him suspiciously. "Well, you can't blame me for thinking that you might be a Kikuchi fan," Okumura said defensively. "After all, you seem to have a fondness for that type of rough, unpolished man--like your friend Takamiya-kun."

Okumura's normally smooth and cultured voice sounded downright sulky, and Kei burst into incredulous laughter. "You have no right to be jealous of Kikuchi-san when you're the one who slept with him, not me!" he exclaimed, but secretly was tickled by Okumura's jealousy, and it put him in a much better mood. "And I never had those kinds of feeling for Jin," Kei said. He took great pleasure in turning Kikuchi's words back on him by adding, "There was never anything more than friendship between us."

And this time it was Okumura's turn to give him a skeptical look. "Oh really?" he asked with a touch of sarcasm. "Then why do you always give Takamiya-kun's boyfriend such a hard time?"

Thrown back on the defensive, Kei flushed and retorted, "Okay, fine, I was a little jealous of Azumi, but not because I was in love with Jin! I was the one who'd nurtured Jin's talent from the start, so naturally I wanted to be the one to help him break down the emotional barrier that was holding him back in his work. It irked me that some clueless little schoolboy was able to get through to him when I, his best friend, couldn't."

"What was it Shakespeare said in Hamlet about protesting too much?" Okumura muttered under his breath.

Kei shot a glare at him and continued, "Anyway, the main thing is that Jin had his breakthrough and his designs have gotten even better, so I don't begrudge Azumi-chan that anymore." Okumura gave him another skeptical look and Kei amended, "Well, not much, anyway. The kid is just so naive and earnest, like a little puppy dog, that I can't resist teasing him."

"You have a sadistic streak, Kei," Okumura said with amusement.

"And you have a jealous streak, Okumura-san," Kei shot back. "First you're jealous of Sasatani-kun, and now Kikuchi-san and Jin!"

Kei's good humor was restored when Okumura stared at him sourly for a moment, then sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. "I admit it," he said in resigned voice. "I'm jealous of any man who catches your eye. That's why I waited so long to introduce you to Kikuchi-san--I didn't want to let him anywhere near you while he was still single."

Kei burst into laughter again, so thoroughly delighted by Okumura's confession that it finally dispersed the last, lingering traces of his own jealousy and irritation. "Ah, you really are cute, Okumura-san, but Kikuchi isn't really my type," he managed to gasp out through his laughter.

"Are you sure?" Okumura asked suspiciously. "After all, you like that sort of--"

"Rough, unpolished man?" Kei interrupted with a grin. "If that's true, how do you explain why I like you? Besides, isn't it a bit rude to refer to your own friend as 'rough and unpolished'?"

"Well, first of all, I figured that I must be the exception to the rule," Okumura replied with a straight face, and Kei couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. "As for Kikuchi-san, I don't consider it to be an insult--his roughness seems to be part of his appeal, after all. A decade ago, all the women used to rave about how 'rugged' and 'manly' he was, and the media played up his bad boy image. They still do, to a certain extent. Onozuka-san is the polished one, which is probably why he and Kikuchi-san make such an appealing couple: they both contrast with and complement each other."

Kei didn't like hearing Okumura talk about how appealing other men were, but he was still in a good mood and didn't feel like picking a fight, so he grabbed Okumura's tie, tugging on it to pull him closer as he murmured, "Like you and I?"

"You and I complete each other, Kei," Okumura replied with a smile that was both loving and seductive.

Okumura leaned in closer to cover Kei's mouth with his own, while Kei dropped Okumura's tie so that he could wrap both arms around his lover. And for once he had to concede that Okumura was right, because their two bodies fit together perfectly.

***

As soon as they were alone, Onozuka turned to glare at his lover and said, "All right, Katsuya, spill it--you did more than have conversation with Okumura-san, didn't you?"

"There was no time for a romantic relationship to develop between us," Kikuchi tried to reassure him. "I swear, he was only in town for a few days."

But by now, Onozuka was familiar with the way that Kikuchi managed to carefully shade the truth without actually lying. "Maybe you weren't in a relationship with him," Onozuka said sarcastically. "But you had sex with him, didn't you? You've told me about all the one night stands you had in the past--so many that you couldn't keep track of them."

"You always use my words against me, Yuu," Kikuchi sighed. "If you insist..."

"And I do," Onozuka interjected firmly.

"...then yes, I did have casual sex with Okumura-kun, but it was years before I met you," Kikuchi finished. "And with the emphasis on casual. The rest is as I said earlier--we kept in touch and became friends, but it's been strictly platonic ever since then. Neither of us has romantic feelings for the other."

"Are you sure?" Onozuka asked suspiciously. "You never even considered hooking up with him again after you came back from America?" He added sarcastically, "Before you met me, of course."

"Never," Kikuchi replied firmly. "I like him well enough as a friend, but we're too much alike to be lovers on a long-term basis. We're both so competitive that we'd be locked in a constant battle of wills."

"Are you saying that you like me because I'm so meek?" Onozuka asked incredulously.

"Hardly," Kikuchi replied with a smile. "But you're much more subtle than Okumura-kun. With you, your enemy would never even realize that it was a battle until he felt the knife stabbing him in the back."

Onozuka couldn't help grinning in spite of himself. "So that turns you on?" he asked. "That's pretty perverse, Katsuya."

"Yeah, but you said that you like perverse men, right, your Highness?" Kikuchi retorted with a playful leer.

Onozuka felt reassured that Kikuchi wasn't interested in Okumura romantically, but decided that Kikuchi deserved some payback for making him jealous. So he pouted and said sulkily, "You are a pervert, and that's what makes me wonder if I can really trust you around Okumura-san. He is a very handsome man, after all."

"Nowhere near as handsome as you, my Prince," Kikuchi replied gallantly. "Besides, he's completely smitten with Yamashiro, and I'm equally smitten with you." Then Kikuchi scowled and said, "What do you mean, he's 'very handsome'? Are you saying that you find him attractive?"

Onozuka leaned forward to study Kikuchi's face intently, and decided that his jealousy was real, much to Onozuka's amusement. "Sure, I find Okumura-san attractive," Onozuka replied, grinning as the scowl on Kikuchi's face deepened. "I'm in a committed relationship with you, but I'm not blind--I still notice when a guy is good-looking. In fact, now that you mention it, Yamashiro-san is pretty cute, too." He burst into laughter when Kikuchi looked ready to jump out of his seat and commit acts of violence against his own friend and that friend's lover.

"You have no right to be jealous when you took me on a 'date' to meet your ex-boyfriend--oh excuse me, I mean your ex-casual-hookup!" Onozuka exclaimed, still laughing.

"Right," Kikuchi said sheepishly, his anger visibly draining away. "I guess I got a little carried away, but honestly, I didn't bring you here to make you jealous." Onozuka raised an eyebrow, giving his lover a skeptical look. "Well, okay, I thought you might get a little jealous, and I won't deny that I found the idea appealing," Kikuchi confessed. "But the main reason why I brought you here tonight was because I wanted to have a date with you." He took Onozuka's hand and bowed his head to press his lips against it while Onozuka continued to gaze at him suspiciously, trying to calculate the level of his sincerity. True, Kikuchi was a sneaky bastard who was good at manipulating his words by leaving out crucial bits of information, but he had never outright lied to Onozuka after the promise he'd made when they'd agreed to move in together, that he would never lie to Onozuka or go behind his back again. Kikuchi was, in his own twisted way, an honorable man.

"Really?" Onozuka asked, more to give Kikuchi a hard time than because he needed convincing.

"Really," Kikuchi assured him, planting another kiss on Onozuka's hand for emphasis. "I really wanted to enjoy a romantic evening with you tonight. And also, Okumura-kun is a good friend..." When Onozuka frowned, Kikuchi hastily added, "A platonic friend, that is, and I want you to meet the important people in my life."

Onozuka frowned and asked, "Okumura-san is important to you?" His voice came out sounding sharper than he'd intended, which caused Kikuchi to smile with satisfaction.

"Not as important as you, my Prince," Kikuchi said soothingly. "What I meant is that you're the most important person in my life now, so it's only natural that you should meet my family and friends. I've already introduced you to my parents and my brother and Noguchi-kun, haven't I?"

"Yes," Onozuka admitted.

"And you've introduced me to your friends, which makes me happy," Kikuchi continued. "I hope that you'll introduce me to your family someday, too. Well, I've already met your Onozuka relatives, but I'd like to greet them formally as your partner instead of just your co-star, and I'd like to pay my respects to your parents."

"That might be kind of difficult, considering that they're not speaking to me right now," Onozuka muttered, staring nervously down into his glass, which was by now nearly empty. Kikuchi had talked about wanting to meet Onozuka's parents during their initial "coming out" press conference, but Onozuka had assumed he was putting on a show for the sake of the reporters. Onozuka supposed he should have known better; in spite of his wild reputation, Kikuchi was surprisingly old-fashioned in some ways. He had a close relationship with his own family, so it was logical that he'd want to meet Onozuka's. And although he hadn't come out and said so outright, Onozuka suspected that Kikuchi wanted him to make up with his family, much as the affectionately interfering Toshi-chan did.

As if he sensed Onozuka's unease, Kikuchi backed off and said with a smile, "Well, we can discuss that some other time. For now, let's just relax and enjoy our date tonight."

"Sounds good to me," Onozuka said, feeling so relieved that he was willing to let slide Kikuchi's earlier mischief with the surprise double date. Kikuchi smiled at him, looking equally relieved to be forgiven, and they clinked their glasses together in a mutual toast, then downed the remainder of their drinks.

"Maybe we can get a refill--" Kikuchi started to say, but before he could look around for a waiter, Sasatani instantly appeared at their table.

"The owner asked me to see to your needs," Sasatani said smoothly. "May I bring you another round of drinks?"

Kikuchi looked taken aback, and Onozuka found himself blushing slightly as he wondered how long Sasatani had been standing there and how much of their conversation he had overheard. He would never have been so careless in the past, and Onozuka was becoming more and more convinced that love destroyed one's brain cells. Then he glumly wondered how long it would take before he turned into a complete lovesick idiot like Katou. Then again, Katou had fallen into idiocy pretty quickly, so maybe some people were more susceptible to it than others--which gave Onozuka a bit of hope.

Sasatani smirked and said, "You two remind me a lot of Yamashiro-sama and the owner. It's no wonder that he's friends with Kikuchi-san."

"Okumura-kun is right--you're insolent," Kikuchi growled. "If you're a bartender in a place like this, you need to learn how to be discreet and keep your thoughts to yourself."

Sasatani bowed deeply and said meekly, "I shall consider myself chastised," but he wasn't a good enough actor to completely disguise the amusement in his voice.

"As for the drinks, you can bring us a couple more of those nectars," Kikuchi snarled, gesturing towards Onozuka's empty glass. "And be quick about it!"

"Yes, sir," Sasatani said with another mockingly polite bow, then took their empty glasses and left the terrace at a pace that was brisk enough to look like he was obeying Kikuchi's order to "be quick about it," but not quick enough to look like he was running away in fear--unlike Kitamura's production assistants.

"I think I liked it better when everyone was afraid of me," Kikuchi grumbled.

"I'm not sure whether he's brave or stupid not to be," Onozuka laughed. "Maybe a little of both. Or maybe he just doesn't know you well enough to know that he should be scared!"

"I could remedy that," Kikuchi said darkly.

"Behave yourself," Onozuka ordered, although he wouldn't have minded seeing Kikuchi strike a little fear into the bartender. "It would cause a scandal if you punched him out and the press heard about it, and besides, I thought you wanted to enjoy a quiet, romantic evening alone together."

"I do," Kikuchi agreed with a sigh. "But maybe I could threaten him just a little bit?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure that he's smart enough to be scared of your threats," Onozuka said dryly. "Why don't we just enjoy our drinks and the view, and you can have a word with Okumura-san later and let him handle Sasatani."

"I don't think he's scared of Okumura-kun, either," Kikuchi grumbled, but managed to refrain from hitting Sasatani when he returned with their drinks, and settled for giving the young bartender a murderous glare.

Sasatani didn't seem particularly intimidated, and calmly set their drinks down on the table in front of them. "Thank you," Onozuka said with cool politeness, deciding to intervene before Kikuchi lost his temper and decided to punch out Sasatani after all. "You can leave us alone now. We'll call for you if we need anything."

"As you wish," Sasatani replied, bowing once more before he left.

"I swear that bastard was smirking at us," Kikuchi muttered, glaring at Sasatani's retreating form.

"Forget him," Onozuka said. "Don't let him ruin our evening." When Kikuchi still looked annoyed, Onozuka pouted and said, "If you keep thinking about him instead of me, I'm going to get jealous."

It was a blatant but effective ploy: Kikuchi immediately cheered up and grinned at him. "I'm sorry, Yuu," he said, reaching over to take Onozuka's hand. "You're right; we ought to just enjoy our date. Besides, I'd be crazy to think about anyone else when I have you by my side."

"You really are a shameless flatterer," Onozuka accused, but he enjoyed the flattery, shameless or not, and he squeezed Kikuchi's hand affectionately. He glanced across the terrace and said, "It's a nice place for a date, even if we were invited here by your ex-not-quite-boyfriend. The view really is beautiful."

"Yes, it is," Kikuchi agreed in a husky voice, but he was staring at Onozuka rather than the terrace or the city skyline. With Kikuchi's eyes focused intently on Onozuka's face as if no one else in the world existed, Onozuka finally felt reassured--at least for the moment--that Kikuchi desired only him and not Okumura or any of his (apparently) numerous ex-lovers.

"Shameless," Onozuka whispered tenderly as he leaned over to kiss Kikuchi.

***

As Sasatani headed back to the bar, he shook his head and laughed, "Those two are just as bad as Kei-san and the boss!"

-End-

***

Afterword: Ever since Okumura first appeared in Unmasked, Part 2, I've been wanting to bring him back and do a Haru/Love Control crossover, so I was happy to finally have the opportunity! Anyway, here are the usual rambling author's notes on the story...

I remember reading somewhere that many Japanese apartments/homes do not have an oven, presumably because it takes up too much space. Since my fanon version of Kikuchi has taken up cooking as a hobby, I thought it might be fun to have the oven be the selling point of the new apartment for him. Besides, I enjoy having Kikuchi pamper Onozuka with home-cooked meals! ^_^

It's not clear from the Love Control manga whether Okumura is gay or bisexual. Okumura has a reputation for being a playboy, and Kei gets quite jealous of Okumura's attractive female business associates, but it's never actually confirmed that he's had past relationships with women. I just thought it would be funny if Kei had made a completely incorrect assumption.

Kei's friend Takamiya Jin (and Jin's boyfriend Azumi) appear briefly in Love Control, but first appeared as the main characters in Hasukawa-sensei's earlier manga Anata no Tonari ni Suwarasete ("Let Me Sit Next to You"), which unfortunately hasn't been officially translated into English yet. In that manga, Kei and Okumura are minor characters, and Kei appears to be jealous of Jin's attachment to Azumi, although he passes it off as being concerned that Azumi will interfere with Jin's work. He's annoyed and a bit resentful when Azumi has the opposite effect, and Jin's furniture designs become even better.

Kei's hair is drawn as silver in the manga covers, but since that's a bit unusual for someone his age, I passed it off as him turning prematurely gray. (I have a friend who was going gray in his twenties, though he's not nearly as pretty as Kei. ^_^)

I don't really drink alcohol much, so I used a book called Japanese Cocktails by Yuri Kato for inspiration. There is indeed a drink in the manga that is amber like Okumura's eyes, but the ingredients aren't specified, so I looked in the book and found a pretty yellow-gold colored drink called a Yuzu Bath, which consists of shochu, yuzu juice, and Triple Sec. (The hot version contains shochu, yuzu juice, and honey.) And as mentioned in the fic, Onozuka's drink is an Okinawa Nectar (made of awamori, peach nectar, pear-flavored vodka, rosemary-infused syrup, and kabosu juice).

Comments

[keleosnoonna.livejournal.com]

As usual, your attention to detail is amazing. This story is great, I absolutely loved it!
I like Kikuchi and Onozuka better than Katou and Iwaki ♥ (well your version anyway ^_^ )

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

Thank you, that's a great compliment! Although Katou might pout if he heard that you like Kikuchi and Onozuka better, so I'll just keep it to myself. ~_^

[portisheart.livejournal.com]

of course the sidekicks asked at once about Kikuchi's & Okumura's past "situation"! LOL.
you have developed a new style in your Kikuchi/Onozuka fanfics: mini-angst. not too much, just enough to spice up the plot - not too long, tension & release all included in 1 chapter ^^
i'd love to read more Sasatani - even if, as i said, don't remember or have never read any Love Control etc, i like his bold shamelessness. can't he be like, i dunno, a rented waiter/barmaster in future fics?
mmhhh those cocktails sound delicious. i should take up drinking XDDDD

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

"Mini-angst"--have I started a new genre? ~_^

Heh heh, I find Sasatani a bit obnoxious, but it is fun to watch him annoy our heroes! If Kikuchi and Onozuka go back to the Nebula, I'm sure Sasatani will be there.

Thanks for reading!