Jeopardy

Chapter Six: Rendezvous

A/N: krkill here! Thank you for having the patience to read this fanfiction! We do hope we don't disappoint you with this latest update. The chapter is mostly about Rukawa and Sendoh's rendezvous. We have omitted the MitKo part that we were planning to include for this chapter should be found on the next chapter although the next update might take quite some time again. We are terribly sorry what with both of us being busy with college. Please send us some of your comments and love! We are still very much in love with SenRu as we were 7 years ago. Enjoy

"Aniki, don't wait up. I'm going out after work," Rukawa said, one hand holding his cellphone while the other was fixing his table.

"No, I'm fine," he continued picking up his bag.

"I have spare clothes. Yes."

"Yes. Okay. Ja," he said, finally ending the call.

After more persuading in Sendoh's part, Rukawa finally conceded with marking today as the day of celebration.

"Onii-chan."

Shinichi Maki felt his heartbeat quicken. Kiyota. There was no mistaking it. He strained his eyes for the merest trace of movement—of life—but it was too dark to see any further than the reach of his arm. He took a tentative step forward, and another, and another. He felt his knees tremble.

"Onii-chan." Kiyota's voice was louder this time, and more panicked. Maki's fear was immediately replaced with worry.

"Kiyota? Kiyota, where are you?" He heard a weak sob. "Just... just keep calling nii-chan's name, OK? I'm coming fo—"

"It's too late, onii-chan." Kiyota's voice was hoarse, his tone defeated. "I failed you. I'm sorry."

Maki broke into a frantic run. Oh no oh no oh no...

"Kiyota! Kiyota, don't do anything stupid, you hear me?" Kiyota didn't answer. Faster and faster he went, reaching out blindly into the darkness.

He stumbled forward, and heard something crack. Maki turned around, his skin prickling with fear, and found himself staring at a lifeless Kiyota, eyes bloodshot and open, a bottle of pills and a needle in his hand.

Maki felt the bile rise up to his throat.

A horrible stench of rotting corpses filled his nose. He watched, petrified, as Kiyota disintegrated into flesh and bone. There was an odd noise of bones cracking and crumbling into clumps of ash, and Maki found himself in a sea of white and grey. He felt his throat constrict, and he was unable to breathe; the dust and the smell clogged his nose and mouth. His vision was getting blurry.

"Kiyota," he gasped. I can't die, Kiyota. I can't die... not until he does.

For a moment, everything seemed to have stopped. The pungent smell cleared; the dust thinned, inch by inch, and finally dissolved into the darkness of oblivion.

Maki woke up with a start, beads of sweat running down his temples. He looked around wildly-papers and clothes were strewn across the floor in a map of disarray, and the smell of sake clung onto his sheets with a vice-like grip. There was a dull, persistent throbbing in his head—fuck, I shouldn't have drank too much—and the beginnings of a nasty hangover shook off whatever stubborn remnants of the nightmare that held onto his consciousness.

He can't remember why he was even drinking in the first place; the past day was actually one of his better days. Two of the pending missions had finally been carried out, and the clients were more than willing to hand in the payoff and get it done and over with. The talks with three prospective clients had progressed, too, and if he hadn't misread the eager, ruthless look on their faces, he knew the deals were in the bag.

And of course, there was Sendoh Akira. The way he gaped and stared enviously at him had been hilarious. It was an obvious sign of Sendoh's attraction for his assassin, and as sickening and pathetic as it was, he would have it no other way. Surely, the kid must've done something about Rukawa's birthday by now.

Maki chuckled derisively. The gullible moron was making it too easy.

After all these years, it still escapes him how that driveling idiot and his amateur band had been so successful. Granted, he had a prettier face than Kiyota, but that was about it. In the end, however, Sendoh Akira managed to steal the fame and the recognition his brother deserved. It was absurd, and unfair.

Kiyota was stupid for letting the media and the paranoia get the better of him, but he couldn't quite forget the way Kiyota had uttered, "It's over, nii-chan." It wasn't, at least not yet, but Kiyota decided to take the easy way out. The moment he found Kiyota on his bed, spit and blood on his pillow and eternally unmoving, he realized how his brother had been broken in ways more than one. It was a wonderful dream that had mercilessly ended before it could even start.

He wouldn't let that go unexpended, though. And he'll personally see to it that retribution would be ruthless and sweet. He'll just have to make sure that Rukawa doesn't fuck it up, but that could be arranged.

Maki smirked, self-satisfied. Things will soon be in their right places.

He stared at the moon, confident from where it hung in the cloudless sky. The air was comfortably warm, and his surroundings were unusually silent. It was a perfect night for a sound, blissfully undisturbed sleep. It's been years since he had a peaceful sleep, come to think of it, but he wasn't expecting tonight to be different. Still, dreams about his brother weren't that frequent. The insecure brat probably wanted attention. Or assurance, whatever. Either way, he was being a total pain in the ass. And at 2:47 in the morning with a bitch of a hangover, Maki can't help but feel a bit annoyed.

"I haven't forgotten you, you know." He said loudly. The room remained silent and unmoving, but he heard the answer, haughty and obnoxious and a bit sinister, startlingly clear as the tranquil night.

"Like I would've let you, aniki."

Sendoh Akira was anxious. He was taking the band's producer out tonight. Tonight. Finally.

He clutched the ticket he worked so hard to buy for. By 'hard work' he meant 15 minutes of blinding the women with lust with his infamous Sendoh Akira sexytime grin (it wasn't a compliment, as Koshino had pointed out numerous times before, but he liked the name anyway) before one ticket lady finally relented and gave him a much-coveted ticket, much to the chagrin of those in the queue before and behind him. One even had the decency to call him—what was it?—a "butt-ugly communal sex bunny". He fiddled on a button of his keychain—ploop ploop—and sauntered off towards the direction of his car's high-pitched alarm, his nervousness assuaged for a second as he laughed softly at the memory.

To begin with, he didn't even know why he was so nervous. It's not as if they were going out for a date. He tried to convince himself that it was a casual outing between good friends. Not as if they were really friends, if Rukawa's rather frequent sneers of "do'ahou" and blood-curdling glares had anything to say about it. Well, other people found it blood-curdling. Personally, he thought it was cute.

"Everything about Kaede-kun is cute for you, Akira-kun," Ayako would say, if she was with him. And he will agree, of course, and even suggest other cute things about Rukawa. Like his eyes, for example. And his hands. How he walks. Hm. It was going to be a pretty long list. Maybe I should do this alphabetically.

Sendoh was halfway through "biting his lip when he's having a hard time with a song" and "butt" when Rukawa finally exited the company building, leaving Sendoh no choice but to leave his nice thoughts behind to fetch his companion for the night.

Rukawa entered the car with sure steps, resembling someone who is undergoing a routine. Without any hesitation, much less a greeting to Sendoh, they drove silently.

Just in time for their reservation, they headed to Aragawa, one of the most expensive restaurants in the world. Since it was easy to park the car, the two headed to their table and ordered the house specialty and some wine to match their dishes.

"Ruka-," Sendoh began but was cut off.

"Kaede."

"Eh?"

"I think you're allowed to call me Kaede now."

Surprised, Sendoh couldn't help but smile a little before continuing with his question, "Ru-I mean Kaede, how's the single coming through?"

"Hmm, the editing is fairly easy now. The single should be released in two weeks." Rukawa replied.

"Wow! That's fast." Sendoh said, taking a bite of his order.

Silence once again reigned in their table as the scraping of the knife can be the only noise heard.

"Umm, do you plan on writing a new song for the next album?" Sendoh asked, trying to break the silence.

"Maybe." Rukawa replied.

"Maybe, we can write it…together?" Sendoh asked hopefully.

"Maybe."

"Let's!" Sendoh said energetically, raising his glass before sipping some wine.

And they continued to eat this way, with Sendoh constantly breaking the silence and Rukawa occasionally giving one-worded replies.

Sendoh glanced at his watch. 7:15. The concert, which will feature the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, will start at 9 at the Tokyo Dome. If Sendoh wasn't a very popular singer he would've been bankrupted from the very start. Truly, to say this birthday treat was one hell of an expensive gift was an understatement. If he had done this for other people, he might've asked himself, "Is it worth it?" But Rukawa was not just "other people", that much Sendoh knew, and pathetic as it may sound, he was even more worried about what Rukawa was thinking at the moment; those precious thoughts that were masked by the man's usual deadpan, if not bored expression. A face that was deceitfully impassive, which cracked only when Sendoh got through him, with his insistent pestering and innocent inquisitiveness.

He didn't even know why Rukawa had chosen himto spend his special day with, of all people. Him, the adorable, idiot clown of a superstar, and his sexytime grin, that was the recipient of almost all of Rukawa's steely, distant, irritable behavior.

Am I worth it, Kaede?

The surprise on Rukawa's face as he bit into the Kobe beef steak gave him a glimmer of hope that somehow, yes, he was.

Not long after, Sendoh finally paid the bill and the two headed to Sendoh's car, and went on another silent, 30-minute drive to the Tokyo Dome.

Upon entering Tokyo Dome, they were seated in one of the finest and expensive seats, courtesy of Sendoh Akira (and his surreptitious charm). There was an excited buzz about the audience, most of whom are dressed with velvet gowns and well-tailored suits. Some, however, were in traditional clothing, Sendoh notes with pride. The murmuring only died down a few minutes later, when the lights were dimmed, save for the yellow floodlights that made the orchestra slightly visible, and the actual experience more surreal. The conductor flicks both of his hands, and the concert began with the piece "Koukyoushi Finlandia Sakuhin 26".

Sendoh was soon engrossed with the sound of the trumpets, the violin, clarinets and the rest of the instruments that he didn't notice his companion falling asleep until he felt Rukawa's head loll at his shoulder. The orchestra's spell was broken as a strand of black hair tickled his cheek, and his nose caught whiffs of Rukawa's shampoo. He thought about pushing Rukawa back to his seat; the closeness wasn't doing any good to his self-control. He was sure he was going to do something stupid at this point now, with Rukawa's lips just a mere dip of the head away. The logical little Sendoh in his head was certainly against this arrangement—it was against the whole, er, friendly outing, to begin with—and was tutting disapprovingly at his lovesick reactions. Like a junior high schoolgirl on her first date, it drawled. Sendoh imagined swatting the pesky bastard away, the tiny Sendoh flying through the air and disappearing in a twinkle, manga-style, as he smirked and reveled in his emotional victory. He felt a little better after that, and found that he didn't really care so much at the growing spot of drool on his Y10,000 suit. He made a note to add this to his alphabetical "cute things about Rukawa" mental list later.

Several beautiful masterpieces were played before the final "Kumikyoku 'Tenrankai no E' IX. Baba Yaga no KoyaRe1". The concert was ending. Sendoh, with much reluctance, decided to wake Rukawa.

"Kaede. Kaede, the concert is almost over. You better wake up now," Sendoh whispered, shaking Rukawa gently.

A bit more shaking occurred before Rukawa finally opened his eyes. It actually felt like they were in that movie, Sleeping Beauty, except there was no evil dragon and Rukawa had only slept for over an hour. And, there wasn't any actual kissing involved. Although, Sendoh's face was quite close to Sleeping Beauty—Rukawa (It's RUKAWA, you Disney geek, Sendoh berates himself inwardly), and Sendoh realized this almost too late. He immediately pulled back, a light blush on his face.

The final notes were just about to be played before most of the crowd stood and gave the orchestra a standing ovation, and the dome was filled with cheering fans.

Rukawa jerked up, surprised by the sudden bustle of activity, and stood with the crowd. His hair was mussed-up and messy, and there was a trail of drool from the side of his lips. Sendoh's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"What?" Rukawa asks him gruffly, his voice husky with sleep.

Sendoh's breath hitched. Shit, that was sexy.

"Er—you've got drool on your face!" he cheerfully announced. Too cheerfully.

"Don't say it out loud, you moron!" Rukawa growled, and made a motion to smack Sendoh up the head. But his body, which seemed to be not as awake as his brain was, failed him, and as luck would have it, Rukawa lost his balance and slipped.

It happened all too quickly—how Rukawa uttered "fuck" in surprise and how Sendoh gasped "Kaede!" in surprise and how Sendoh's quick arms jutted out in surprise, and was able to catch him before he hit his head on one of the nearby chairs.

"Are you okay, Kaede?" Sendoh asked, concerned. He quickly glanced at his surroundings, only to find that the couples around them had noticed the commotion and were now staring, at him, at Rukawa, and at his arm looped protectively around Rukawa's waist.

"I'm fine, thank you." Rukawa's tone was a bit higher than usual. "Can you please let go of me now?"

Oh, shit. He almost forgot what they could possibly look like to other people. "Uhh, yes of course. Sorry," he replied, letting go of Rukawa and fixing their crumpled clothes.

They let a number of the audience leave before finally departing themselves, with Sendoh taking it to himself to drop Rukawa to his home. It was apparent that the producer was quite sleepy already, and Sendoh wasn't one to leave his sleepy dates—friends—to fend for themselves, alone.

"Did you even enjoy the concert, Kaede?" Sendoh asked half-jokingly.

"The modulation of the Kumikyoku are quite beyond imagination. The orchestra truly deserve their fame." Rukawa replied.

Sendoh was left speechless as Rukawa gave other details about the instruments and the performance itself of the orchestra when he knew for a fact that Rukawa was deep asleep during some of those pieces, leaving Sendoh to wonder how much of a genius Rukawa is. Their company was definitely lucky to have someone like Rukawa.

Soon after, they were in front of Rukawa's house and Sendoh decided to get down from the car a bit to wait for Rukawa to enter said house. Like a guy waiting for his girlfriend to safely enter her residence, he mused.

Rukawa was about to enter the house when he turned around, and went back towards him. Sendoh blinked.

"Uh, is there something wro—"

His mouth had barely formed the "o" in "wrong" when Rukawa cupped his face, and gave him a chaste kiss. Warm, light, gentle, and a bit too quick.

Sendoh stood gaping in the middle of the road as Rukawa finally left.

Rukawa locked the door of the house with a smirk on his face.

"Nobody said I couldn't play around just a bit."

Rukawa changed from his formal attire to his pajamas and prepared to sleep.

"I'll just have to take care not to fall in love."

A/N: Well, a little birdie tells me it's 4:50 AM and Kai-chan and I seriously need to haul our sorry asses off to la-la-land. Um, it has been a really long time since we last updated this thing-four? three years?-but nothing has chnaged, really. We still want you to scroll down to that tiny button over there, at the bottom of this page, and leave us a review. Nice or harsh, we'll take it. Sorry for those who expected porny stuff, um, I don't think we're allowed to do that at this point. And it's 5 AM. It's beyond my ability to write porn at 5 AM. Good morning, Internet friends. Thanks for your time. -Dukki