FIC: Cookout, Part 1 of 3

[geri_chan]

Title: Cookout, Part 1 of 3
Rating: NC-17 overall
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka
Word count: ~6,060
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Unexpected Opportunities, Comeback (Part 1 and Part 2), Forgiveness, Firsts, First Date (Part 1 and Part 2), Going Steady ((Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6), and Audition (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). The series also includes two side-stories that are outside of the main timeline: Valentine's Day Surprise and Strictly Business.
Summary: Onozuka receives an unexpected invitation from Iwaki, and Kikuchi takes Onozuka on a fishing trip.

***

Onozuka woke to the scent of brewing coffee and clattering sounds that seemed to be coming from the direction of the kitchen. He rolled over in bed and groaned, "I drank way too much last night!" His head hurt, and his mouth tasted like something nasty had taken up residence there. The sunlight streaming through the bedroom window hurt his eyes even though it was filtered through the drawn curtains, and Onozuka winced.

Kikuchi appeared in the doorway, looking gorgeous as always, but annoyingly cheerful and alert. He was fully dressed and his hair was damp, so he must have showered while Onozuka was sleeping.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes!" Kikuchi said with a grin. "Why don't you go take a shower while I get breakfast on?"

Onozuka grimaced at the mention of food; the mere thought of eating anything made him a little queasy. "Maybe just some coffee," he mumbled, as he got up and began hunting for his clothes, which were strewn across the floor. "I have a hangover."

"Serves you right for going out drinking all night when I was waiting here for you alone," Kikuchi said heartlessly, but he planted a kiss on Onozuka's cheek.

"It's Katou and Miyasaka's fault," Onozuka defended himself. "They kept refilling my glass and urging me to drink up, saying that this party was for me. I finally resorted to pouring my drinks into Miyasaka's glass when he wasn't looking. And then you had bought the champagne to congratulate me, so it would have been rude to turn it down..."

"Then next time I won't buy alcohol to celebrate," Kikuchi teased. "After all your big talk about keeping me up all night, you fell asleep before we could do it a second time."

"Ah, I completely forgot!" Onozuka exclaimed. He slapped his forehead in chagrin and quickly regretted it--not such a good move when one's head was pounding from a hangover. He gave Kikuchi what he hoped was a sheepish-but-winsome smile and said, "I'm sorry, Katsuya. I promise I'll make it up to you later."

"Don't worry, I'll take a rain check," Kikuchi laughed. "Go ahead and shower; you'll feel better."

And Onozuka did feel better after a hot shower and taking some aspirin that he found in Kikuchi's medicine cabinet. He brushed his teeth with a spare toothbrush that Kikuchi had provided him with the first time he'd slept over, and he felt a secret thrill at knowing that he'd become enough of a fixture in Kikuchi's life to warrant having his own toothbrush here. Of course, it was probably a silly thing to get excited over--maybe Kikuchi was just a germophobe who didn't like sharing his own toothbrush. On the other hand, considering that Kikuchi had had Onozuka's tongue and cock in his mouth many times since they'd started dating, it was unlikely that he would be repulsed by Onozuka getting a little saliva on his toothbrush.

Ah, he was over-thinking the whole thing--getting all excited over a stupid toothbrush, for god's sake! But still, he found himself whistling a cheerful tune as he got dressed and combed his damp hair as best he could with his fingers. He eyed himself critically in the bathroom mirror for a moment, then decided that his hair still looked a bit messy, but in a charmingly tousled sort of way. More cute than princely, but good enough, and Onozuka went out to join Kikuchi in the kitchen for breakfast.

Kikuchi had just finished cooking and was setting out plates of toast and omelette on the table. The food smelled good, and Onozuka drank some coffee and tried a cautious bite of the omelette, and then another when his stomach didn't rebel.

"You're a great cook," Onozuka said sincerely. He was a rather indifferent one himself--he could cook a basic meal, but usually didn't bother to exert himself beyond that. In fact, he avoided cooking as much as possible, whether that meant eating out at a restaurant or just picking up a cheap bento at the convenience store. It was probably a rebellion against all the time he'd been forced to spend in the kitchens of the family home and the main Kanazawa shop training under his father.

"Well, I've been living on my own for over twenty years, and since I don't have a wife, I didn't really have a choice but to learn how to cook," Kikuchi laughed.

"I hear that Katou makes a very good wife," Onozuka smirked. "He loves cooking gourmet meals for Iwaki."

"So maybe I should have married Katou?" Kikuchi asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I don't think that you two would've survived the honeymoon without killing each other!" Onozuka laughed.

"I was going to collect my rain check this morning," Kikuchi said, changing the subject. "But your Highness slept late, and I need to be at the studio for the next round of auditions soon. Although I expect it won't take long--Asano is being asked to read for the role of the killer as a formality, but the part is pretty much his. Kitamura really liked his performance yesterday, and Yoshizumi's too. You may be asked to come in later to read with Yoshizumi, just to make sure that you two work well together--assuming that your agency approves the contract."

"The agency is going over it, but Fujimoto doesn't anticipate any problems," Onozuka replied. "I should be called in later today to sign it. But to be honest..." He flashed a charming smile at Kikuchi. "...I'd be willing to work for free in order to have the chance to star alongside you."

"Well, don't tell the producers that," Kikuchi chuckled. "They just might take you up on it! Anyway, I should warn you that Kitamura has his heart set on casting Yoshizumi as your brother, so it would be wise to make sure that the two of you work well together, whether you like him or not."

"I don't have a problem working with people I don't like," Onozuka replied nonchalantly. "I worked with Iwaki, after all, and managed to convince the cast and crew that we were good friends in real life. Katou says this Yoshizumi is a good guy--one of the few men that he trusts around Iwaki, so I think we should get along okay." He gave Kikuchi a sly look. "You liked him, didn't you? You seemed to be enjoying your audition scene with him quite a bit."

"It was pure acting," Kikuchi protested innocently, and Onozuka snorted in a very un-princely manner.

"Whatever you say," Onozuka said skeptically, then smiled at Kikuchi seductively. "Can I come by later tonight to give you that rain check?"

"Sure--no, wait," Kikuchi replied, shaking his head regretfully. "Kitamura, Asami-chan, and I are supposed to have dinner with one of the sponsors tonight. Kitamura hates this kind of schmoozing, so I'm supposed to set a good example for him. I'll never hear the end of it--from Kitamura or the producers--if I bail out at the last minute."

"Ah well, some other time then," Onozuka sighed.

"Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could take a little trip this weekend," Kikuchi suggested. "This might be our last chance for a romantic getaway before we're too busy with interviews, costume fittings, rehearsals, and the like. And once the cast is officially announced, we'll probably be under intense media scrutiny, and it'll be harder for us to meet."

"So ironically, being cast as your lover in the film means that it's harder for us to have sex for real?" Onozuka asked wryly. "I'd love to spend the weekend with you, but where are we going? I thought you were the one who said that we shouldn't be seen in public together."

"A friend of mine, a stuntman who worked on several of my films, has a nice little fishing cabin in a remote location," Kikuchi replied. "He said that I could borrow it anytime."

"You want to go fishing?" Onozuka asked, trying to sound more enthusiastic than he felt. He liked eating fish well enough--cleaning and cooking it, not so much.

"Sure, it'll be great," Kikuchi said heartily. "There's nothing like fresh fish grilled over an open fire." He grinned at Onozuka. "I also thought that we could have a lot of sex."

"Now that sounds like fun," Onozuka said, grinning back at him. "But are you sure you can trust your friend not to leak any info about our getaway to the press?"

"I didn't tell him that I was bringing you with me," Kikuchi replied. "Although he can probably guess that I want to be alone with a male companion. But yes, I trust him completely. Noguchi was badly injured during a stunt on 'Tokyo Countdown'--the studio was trying to make out that it was due to his own carelessness and that they didn't owe him a settlement. But it wasn't his fault; the timer on the explosives went off a few seconds early. So I told the studio executives that I'd go to the press and say that they were trying to weasel out of paying the medical expenses of an employee wounded on the job."

Onozuka frowned. "I don't remember hearing about any major injuries during the filming of that movie."

"The studio hushed it up and paid Noguchi a big settlement to avoid any bad publicity," Kikuchi explained. "He made a full recovery and invested the money wisely. He's wealthy enough now that he doesn't need to work anymore, although to keep busy, he runs a school to train aspiring stuntmen and women." He smiled bitterly and added, "I made some enemies at the studio, though. I was too big a star for them to offend at the time, but they were among the first to turn against me once the scandal broke. But Noguchi never forgot what I did for him, and he was one of the few friends I had who didn't abandon me after the scandal." The bitterness on Kikuchi's face eased, and he continued, "Anyway, he's a loyal friend and would never sell me out to the media."

"He sounds like a great guy," Onozuka said. "Okay, I'd love to go to this romantic secluded cabin with you." He smiled as he imagined Miyasaka's reaction to him disappearing this weekend, which would probably include another rant about Onozuka's "secret girlfriend." He wondered if he ought to tell his friend that it was Kikuchi he was going away with.

"I was thinking that we could leave early Saturday morning, or maybe Friday evening--" Kikuchi started to say, but just then, Onozuka's cell phone rang.

"Sorry," Onozuka apologized. "Could you hold that thought?" He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, raised his eyebrows when he saw who was calling, then answered it. "Hello, Iwaki-san. What can I do for you?"

"I heard from Katou that you won the part in Kitamura-kantoku's movie," Iwaki said pleasantly. "You'll probably be too busy to hang out with us for awhile, so we thought we'd throw you a party to congratulate you before your schedule gets too busy. Can you make it for lunch on Sunday? Katou wants to have a cookout, since we still have all the barbeque equipment that we bought for..."

His voice trailed off for a moment, and Onozuka finished, "Katou and Miyasaka's reconciliation party. I hope no one is bringing wild boar this time, though!"

"We're inviting Miyasaka, too, but we're going to make him promise not to bring any boar meat!" Iwaki laughed.

"That's very nice of you, but I made plans to spend some time with a friend this weekend," Onozuka said, then grinned as an idea occurred to him. "Would it be all right if I brought a guest?"

"Of course!" Iwaki replied. "Katou said that you have a new girlfriend, and we'd love to meet her. Is she in the business, too?"

"My friend is in the geinokai; that's how we met," Onozuka replied, very carefully avoiding any mention of his "friend's" gender. "Can you hold on just a minute, Iwaki-san?" He grinned at a very curious-looking Kikuchi and told him, "Iwaki-san and Katou have invited us over for a cookout on Sunday, to celebrate my getting the role. Do you mind if we cut our trip short?" Kikuchi grinned back at him and shook his head, and Onozuka told Iwaki in a sweet voice, "Okay, we'll be there. Thank you so much, Iwaki-san; it's very nice of you."

"Oh, not at all--we're very excited for you, Onozuka-kun," Iwaki replied. "It's a great role and a great opportunity."

"I still have a long way to go before I can catch up with you and Katou," Onozuka said modestly.

"Not that much longer, I think," Iwaki replied, chuckling. "We look forward to seeing you this weekend."

"Likewise," Onozuka replied and hung up. "Miya-chan will be there, too, by the way," he told Kikuchi, who burst into laughter.

"Ah, I can't wait to see their faces!" Kikuchi exclaimed, laughing so hard that he had to brush tears from his eyes, and Onozuka laughed along with him.

When they finally got themselves under control, Kikuchi said, "If you don't mind the long drive, we can still go fishing for one day. We can catch some fish on Saturday to bring as gifts for our hosts the next day. It would be rude to show up empty-handed, after all."

"I think it's going to take more than a few fish to win Katou over," Onozuka laughed. "But yes, we can go fishing."

They finished breakfast and did the dishes, and Onozuka was getting ready to leave when Kikuchi said, "Wait, I almost forgot!" He pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to Onozuka, who stared at it blankly for a moment before he realized what it must be.

"Is this a key to your place?" he asked.

Kikuchi nodded casually. "Yeah, I figured with all the media attention we'll be getting once we start filming, it might be better if you're able to come and go on your own without having to wait for me to buzz you in."

Onozuka smiled at the key, trying to hide the sudden sense of elation that he felt. A key to Kikuchi's apartment--this was way better than a toothbrush! Kikuchi was letting Onozuka into his life much more easily than Iwaki had Katou, but at the same time, it made him a little nervous. Katou had been eager to move in with Iwaki--so eager, in fact, that he'd moved in uninvited--but Onozuka wasn't sure that he was ready to play house with Kikuchi just yet.

Then he mentally shrugged it off and told himself that he was making a big deal out of nothing. As Kikuchi had said, it was merely a convenience to help them avoid the paparazzi.

"Are you sure you trust me with this?" Onozuka asked lightly, holding up the key as he smiled mischievously at Kikuchi.

"Why shouldn't I?" Kikuchi replied carelessly. "You're not planning to run off with my stereo, are you?"

Onozuka grinned at him and said, "I already have a stereo, but I don't have someone else to have sex with."

"I have a hard time believing that the Golden Prince can't find any number of willing lovers--male or female," Kikuchi said, wrapping an arm around Onozuka and pulling him close.

"I'm very picky," Onozuka informed him. "I have extremely high standards."

"Lucky for me--and my stereo," Kikuchi chuckled, kissing Onozuka.

"Those swords from the Kenshin movie are tempting, though," Onozuka sighed regretfully.

"But are they better than sex?" Kikuchi asked with a grin.

Onozuka pretended to think it over for a moment, then replied, "No."

"I'm insulted that you had to think about it," Kikuchi growled, pretending to be angry.

"Then I'll have to make it up to you," Onozuka said, kissing his lover placatingly. Then he smiled and purred, "You can sheathe your sword in me...or as I recall, I was supposed to sheathe mine in you..."

"But you fell asleep before you had a chance to," Kikuchi reminded him dryly.

"Well, I--" Onozuka started to reply, but then an Enka song suddenly started blaring from his jacket pocket. "Fujimoto always has the worst timing," he grumbled as he answered his phone. "Fujimoto-san? Okay, I'm on my way." He ended the call and told Kikuchi, "I've been called into the agency to sign the contract."

"I have to be leaving soon, anyway," Kikuchi said, giving Onozuka a quick kiss. "Any sword-sheathing will have to wait for another time. I'll call you later about the fishing trip."

"Okay," Onozuka said, and used his phone to call for a taxi. When he hung up, he noticed that Kikuchi was frowning slightly.

"You might want to be careful in the future about having a cab pick you up here," Kikuchi cautioned. "If the driver recognizes you, he or she might sell info to the press about picking you up at my apartment building."

"It's okay," Onozuka assured him. "I always use the same taxi company, which has a contract with my agency, so their drivers are discreet. We give them a lot of business, and they wouldn't want to jeopardize the contract. And there are a few specific drivers that I try to ask for, that I know I can trust. I pay them a little extra, or get them an autograph from their favorite star in order to further ensure their discretion." He grinned. "One of the drivers is a big Katou fan, so it helps to have a famous movie star as my best friend!"

"I should have known that you'd have everything under control," Kikuchi laughed.

"Of course I do," Onozuka said smugly, and blew a kiss at his lover as he walked out the door.

***

Since they were going to the party on Sunday, Kikuchi had decided to cut their fishing expedition down to a day-trip on Saturday instead of an overnighter, which was fine with Onozuka. He wasn't really one for roughing it in the great outdoors, anyway.

Kikuchi had rented a car for the weekend, although he mused, "Maybe I ought to just buy one outright. It looks like I'll be staying in Japan permanently now that my career's back on track, and it would be more convenient for when we want to get away like this. On the other hand, using different cars makes it harder for the paparazzi to keep tabs on me."

"Mm," Onozuka murmured noncommittally from the passenger seat, too sleepy to really care one way or the other. It was a long drive, so they had started off early in the morning, and Onozuka kept dozing off--and Kikuchi kept waking him up so that he'd have someone to talk to. Onozuka supposed that it was good that Kikuchi wasn't falling asleep at the wheel, but it was a bit annoying that he always seemed so cheerful and energetic in the morning. Especially since they'd made love twice the night before, and despite Kikuchi's usual warnings about being an old man, he'd had no problems with his stamina--in fact, Onozuka was the one who had been left exhausted!

"Maybe you need to start taking some vitamins or something, Yuu," Kikuchi teased. "A young man like you shouldn't have any trouble keeping up with an old man like me."

Onozuka sighed and finally gave up on the idea of napping during the drive. He gave his lover a baleful look as he took a sip of coffee from Kikuchi's thermos, which Kikuchi had brought along to keep himself awake during the drive. However, Onozuka seemed to need the caffeine more than he did.

"I'm just not a morning person," Onozuka grumbled. "Maybe I ought to ask what kind of so-called vitamins you're taking, to get by on so little sleep!"

"You ought to take some calcium, too, for your irritability," Kikuchi said cheerfully. "As for me, I've worked long hours on the set for so many years that I'm used to getting by without much sleep."

"How nice for you," Onozuka said sourly. Kikuchi flashed a charming grin at him, and Onozuka couldn't help but smile back in spite of himself. He could never stay mad at Kikuchi for long, and besides, the fact that Kikuchi was great in bed more than made up for his occasional annoying moments.

Kikuchi had brought along a couple of fishing rods, but he stopped at a tackle shop along the way to pay for a one-day fishing license and pick up some bait and ice for the cooler that was going to hold all the fish they were bringing back home--hypothetically, anyway. When they finally reached the cabin, Onozuka was glad once again that they were only staying for the day, since it was a little rustic for his tastes. Personally, he had never understood the appeal of camping versus staying at a hotel--or at least a nice country inn, if one wanted to get closer to nature.

Kikuchi seemed in his element, though, as they hiked to the stream where they were supposed to fish. "You're really into all this outdoorsy stuff, aren't you?" Onozuka asked in a bemused voice.

"My dad used to take me and my brother fishing and camping when he could get off from work, which wasn't very often," Kikuchi replied with a nostalgic smile. "My long-suffering mother went along with us when we were kids, although she would've preferred to spend her vacation at a hotel with room service and all the amenities."

"I'm with your mother," Onozuka said in heartfelt agreement, and Kikuchi laughed.

"It'll be worth it," Kikuchi promised, although Onozuka wasn't sure whether he was referring to the fish they were supposedly going to catch or the sex that they would have later tonight.

Just to make it clear, Onozuka said, "Remember, you promised me lots of sex in addition to the fish."

"If you can manage to stay awake tonight," Kikuchi retorted with a grin.

They reached the stream, and Onozuka wrinkled his nose in distaste when he realized that he was expected to stick a small, wriggling worm on the fishhook. (Well, technically it was a grub, but anything small and wiggly and legless was a worm in Onozuka's book.) "Aren't you the same guy who's too softhearted to eat boiled loaches, or fish that are gutted while they're still alive?" he complained.

Kikuchi shrugged and replied, "It's tough to feel sorry for a grub. Besides, it's just going to be eaten by the fish, anyway." When Onozuka continued staring dubiously at the bait and the hook without touching either, Kikuchi laughed and said, "Here, I'll do it for you. But didn't you ever do any fishing in Okinawa? Surely you must have spent some time there with your grandparents."

"My sister and I went there every summer when we were kids," Onozuka replied, a bit reluctantly, but he supposed there was no harm in admitting that much, since Kikuchi already knew about his sister and his grandparents. "My grandfather took us fishing a few times, but he baited the hooks for us. And we were too young to sit still for long, so we usually ended up splashing around in the water and probably chasing away all the fish." It was Onozuka's turn to smile nostalgically, although the memory was laced with sadness now. "Fortunately, my grandfather was a very patient and indulgent man."

"I wish I could have met him," Kikuchi chuckled. "He sounds like quite an interesting person."

"He was," Onozuka replied, while privately wondering what his grandfather would have thought about Kikuchi--or just the fact that his grandson was gay. His grandfather had been a remarkably tolerant and open-minded man--he had, after all, married a woman with an illegitimate, half-gaijin child--but still, he had belonged to a different generation. Any disapproval he felt would have been expressed in a quiet and gentle manner, though, compared to Onozuka's father's loud rants, which only made it harder to bear. A quiet "I'm disappointed in you, Yuu" from his grandfather had always affected Onozuka more deeply than any of his father's yelling or punishments.

Ojiisan would have been confused rather than angry, and maybe disappointed that there would be no great-grandchildren, Onozuka decided. Or who knew, maybe he would have been okay with it once the shock had worn off. Onozuka's grandmother, on the other hand, was tough and practical, and would probably take the news in stride--not that he planned to let Kikuchi anywhere near any member of his family, so it was a moot point.

"Is your family really okay with you being gay?" Onozuka asked, although he normally didn't ask Kikuchi about his family, because then Kikuchi might expect him to reciprocate. "You said that your dad is a cop--that's a pretty macho profession."

"He kind of surprised me," Kikuchi admitted. "I never told him that I was gay because I thought he'd be disappointed. He was angry with me when the scandal broke--not because I'd been with a man, but because I hadn't trusted him enough to tell him the truth about myself. I'm sure he took a lot of flack at the police department because of the scandal, but he never complained. Which isn't to say that he was comfortable with the whole thing at first, but he said that family should always stand by each other no matter what."

Totally unlike my family, Onozuka thought bitterly, and with a touch of envy. Although from his father's point of view, Onozuka was the one who had failed to stand by his family, and he supposed there was some truth in that.

"Anyway, my father's had ten years to get used to the idea of me being gay, and he's pretty accepting of it now," Kikuchi continued. "It helps that my younger brother is straight and will be able to carry on the family name--eventually." Kikuchi grinned. "Right now, he's still single despite my mother's best efforts to get him married off so that she can have some grandchildren."

"He doesn't mind having the pressure of carrying on the family name being transferred to him?" Onozuka asked cautiously.

"Not really," Kikuchi replied. "Kojiro is pretty easy-going. And he had already figured out a long time ago that the responsibility was going to be his." Kikuchi smiled wryly. "I had thought I was being so clever, convincing everyone that I was straight, but my mother and my brother had guessed the truth years before the scandal, due to the fact that I'd never had any real girlfriends, despite all the women that I took out in public to fool the press." Kikuchi laughed and added, "Actually, I think that the real reason my father was mad at me was because it hurt his pride as a detective, that he was the last one to realize the truth. To add insult to injury, my mother told him, 'Honestly, dear, I thought you knew--it was pretty obvious, after all!'"

Onozuka laughed and said wistfully, "Your family sounds nice."

"Maybe I'll introduce you to them someday," Kikuchi chuckled, and Onozuka couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. Surely he wasn't serious? Probably not, since Kikuchi immediately changed the subject, saying cheerfully, "Well, those fish aren't going to catch themselves!"

He had to show Onozuka how to cast the line, and it took Onozuka a few tries to get it right. After that, it was a matter of waiting for the fish to bite--which they didn't seem to be in any hurry to do. And as he had when he'd been a child in Okinawa, Onozuka quickly grew bored with standing around doing nothing.

He sighed heavily and said, "You know, we could just go buy some fish at the supermarket and save a lot of time and trouble."

"That's not the point of this, Yuu," Kikuchi said patiently. "It's supposed to be relaxing."

Onozuka gave him a seductive smile and purred, "I prefer to do my relaxing in bed."

"Ah, but that type of relaxation is rather strenuous, and there's only so much of it that I can take before I'm completely exhausted," Kikuchi said with a grin. "Let's save that for tonight, shall we? Besides, it's nice to get away from the city once in awhile, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Onozuka replied. The scenery was pretty, and it was a nice, peaceful spot, although Onozuka normally liked the hustle and bustle of city life. And he had to admit that it was nice to go off somewhere with Kikuchi without having to worry about the paparazzi. Still, he'd prefer to be doing something active like hiking or swimming (or having sex) instead of standing around waiting for a fish to come along who was stupid enough to eat a worm that was attached to a sharp hook.

Onozuka could see several fish swimming in the water, but they must be smarter than they looked because the bait went untouched. "I think the fish are laughing at us," he complained.

"Patience, Yuu," Kikuchi said serenely, looking perfectly relaxed and content. Onozuka sighed again and thought sourly to himself that he had better be rewarded with some damned good sex tonight for going along with this fishing trip.

After several more minutes of boredom, he was about to start complaining again when he felt something tug on the line. "Ah, it looks like you've got a bite!" Kikuchi exclaimed.

"Great," Onozuka said, somewhat doubtfully, as he started reeling in the line. "So now what do I do?"

Kikuchi propped his own pole up on the shore, wedging it in place between some rocks, then came over to help Onozuka. "You're doing fine," he said. "Just keep reeling it in--not too fast, or the fish might slip off the hook or break the line." Onozuka tried to follow his advice, struggling to reel in the fish as it pulled against the line harder now, and Kikuchi advised, "Keep the rod up; don't let it dip down too low. Here, like this."

Kikuchi slipped his arms around Onozuka from behind, placing his hands over Onozuka's to position and guide them. "That's it," he murmured into Onozuka's ear. "Slow and steady, not too fast. Keep him working and tire him out before you reel him in."

"Are we still talking about fishing?" Onozuka asked hoarsely. It was very difficult to concentrate on reeling in the fish with Kikuchi's body pressed up against his back.

"What else would we be talking about?" Kikuchi chuckled, nibbling on Onozuka's earlobe playfully.

"That is not helping at all!" Onozuka groaned.

"It isn't?" Kikuchi asked in a mock-innocent voice that had way too much wicked glee in it to be sincere.

"I can't believe you won a 'Best Actor' award," Onozuka grumbled. "You're distracting me, and you know it!"

Kikuchi brushed his lips against the nape of Onozuka's neck and said, "Well, you did say that you preferred this type of relaxation to fishing." Kikuchi pressed his crotch a little more firmly against Onozuka's backside and whispered, "It's pretty isolated here. Maybe we could...?"

For just a moment, Onozuka was sorely tempted, but then he retorted, "Absolutely not--I'm not an exhibitionist like Iwaki and Katou! This may be an isolated spot, but you never know when some other fisherman might come along, or a hiker might wander astray and stumble across us." He turned his head slightly to give Kikuchi a stern glare. "Besides, aren't you the one who's always telling me to be careful and protect my career?"

"You're right," Kikuchi sighed regretfully. He released Onozuka but continued giving verbal encouragement and advice, and Onozuka was eventually able to pull the fish out of the water.

"Argh, what am I supposed to do now that I've caught it?!" Onozuka exclaimed as the fish thrashed around frantically as it dangled from the line.

"I've got it," Kikuchi laughed, scooping up the fish with a small net, and then deftly removing the hook from its mouth with some sort of pliers-like device. He tossed the fish into a bucket that had been filled with water from the stream, and it swam around in slow circles.

"This still seems like a lot of work just for one fish," Onozuka said dubiously. "Also, I hope you realize that one of us is going to have to kill and gut that thing before we eat it, and it isn't going to be me."

"Of course a prince wouldn't dirty his hands with such menial labor," Kikuchi joked. "Don't worry; I'll take care of it. I'm not as tender-hearted as you think. I don't have a problem with catching and eating fish, just with watching them being tortured unnecessarily."

"So how do you kill a fish mercifully?" Onozuka asked curiously.

"Oh, you just give it a good whack on the head," Kikuchi replied casually. "If you do it properly, that'll kill it instantly."

"You scare me sometimes, Katsuya," Onozuka said, making a show of sidling away from Kikuchi while giving him an uneasy sidelong glance.

"I thought that I was the one who was supposed to be squeamish," Kikuchi laughed. "The fish and meat you buy in the supermarket doesn't come from animals who've died of old age or committed suicide, you know!"

"I don't really care about the fish," Onozuka replied. "I'm just worried that you might apply the same principle to people that you don't like!"

Kikuchi gave him a devilish grin and said, "Hey, just because I played a ruthless yakuza on TV doesn't mean that I go around offing people in real life. Besides, I like you, so you're safe enough."

"Still, I think I'd better be careful to stay on your good side," Onozuka said, and Kikuchi laughed.

Onozuka managed to catch one more fish, but it was so small that they ended up releasing it back into the stream. However, Kikuchi caught several on his own, and eventually deemed that they had enough for lunch and to take back for tomorrow's party.

They returned to the cabin, and Kikuchi prepared the fish as promised. He packed most of them away in the cooler, setting aside a few for their lunch. Onozuka helped start the campfire although Kikuchi could probably have done it more efficiently on his own. Then Kikuchi seasoned their fish with a little salt, skewered them on sticks, and cooked them over the fire.

"Ah, this is good!" Onozuka said after he took his first bite of the fish.

"You needn't sound so surprised," Kikuchi chuckled. "Didn't I tell you there's nothing like fresh-grilled fish?"

Onozuka still wasn't sure that it was worth all that work, but Kikuchi looked so pleased and proud of himself that Onozuka just smiled and nodded.

They had also packed some onigiri, so they ate that as well, and it made a nice supplement to the fish. "We used to take some on all our fishing trips," Kikuchi reminisced. "My dad always said that fish tastes better with rice."

"I thought it was so that we'd have something to eat in case we didn't catch anything," Onozuka said with a grin.

"I'll have you know that the Kikuchi men never come back from a fishing trip empty-handed!" Kikuchi said indignantly.

"Forgive me," Onozuka said, bowing his head meekly. "I didn't mean to insult your skill as a mighty hunter."

"Now who's the bad actor?" Kikuchi chuckled, placing his fingers beneath Onozuka's chin to tilt his face up. Onozuka smiled sweetly at him, keeping up the innocent act, and Kikuchi laughed and kissed him. Kikuchi's mouth tasted of grilled fish, but then, so did Onozuka's, and it wasn't an unpleasant taste--in fact, it was an interesting departure from their usual wine-laced kisses.

Onozuka returned the kiss and thought to himself that maybe the great outdoors wasn't so bad, after all.

Part 2
Part 3

***

Afterword: The Japanese apparently think that a bad temper is due to a lack of calcium. I've seen references to this in a few manga stories, including Petshop of Horrors: Count D tells the angry and suspicious detective Leon, "A short temper is a sign of a calcium deficiency." (In the story "Despair" in Book 1.) Petshop is one of my favorite titles and my first entry into fandom, so it was just a little inside joke I threw in, having Kikuchi tell the grumpy Onozuka that he should take some calcium. ^_^

I did a bit of googling to look up info on fresh-water fishing in Japan, and apparently it requires some type of license, so I wrote that into the fic. To be honest, I don't know much about fishing, so I apologize if I got anything wrong. I used Book 4 of the Yotsuba manga as a reference, since it has a really great and detailed chapter where the characters go fishing, although it squicks me a bit, since they gut and skewer the fish while they're still alive! *shudders* Since I've already established that Kikuchi has a phobia about cooking live fish, I had him put them out of their misery first. I actually did read somewhere a long time ago that you can kill a fish quickly by giving it a sharp blow to the head, although I seem to recall that it has to be done precisely.

Actually, the whole fishing trip came about because Kikuchi's been using a fishing metaphor to describe his pursuit of Onozuka, so I thought it would be fun to have them go fishing for real. ^_^ Plus, he's the twisted sort who would enjoy taking Onozuka on a fishing trip as his own private joke.

Onigiri = rice balls, usually wrapped in nori (dried seaweed) and containing some sort of filling, such as fish or umeboshi (pickled plums). When I was a kid, sometimes we'd have it plain, no fillings, with just a bit of salt to flavor the rice and it was still yummy!