Specks of Light

Part One. Chapter 3: News

The whole ride with Nozomi- chan had been quiet and a little unsettling. But as if that wasn't enough, today Ijuuin seemed to be out of focus almost as he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. Yuu had some news to tell him, but they were work related they were not really a big deal.

As they approached the apartment complex, Kyo spoke "That girl likes you, doesn't she?" It was true that Nozomi was not good hiding her emotions, but she must've been extremely obvious for sensei to notice in less than twenty minutes. "Chiaki once told me she had a crush on me" Yuu answered truthfully deciding to leave some details behind. It was probably better for sensei not to know about how nervous she got whenever he approached her or how her cheeks would turn bright red as soon as Yuu spoke. "I noticed it even before leaving Yoshino- sensei's building. That is why I asked you to drive, wanted to keep an eye on her" Kyo told him casually, making Yuu's body heat rise a little. "She couldn't take her eyes off you the entire ride" Ijuuin continued as Yuu parked the car. "I didn't notice" Yuu lied immediately. He had seen the girl looking at him from the rear view mirror and while it hadn't been his intention, his eyes had crossed Nozomi's several times, he could only hope that she hadn't taken that as flirting.

They stepped out of the car and walked to the elevator of the fancy building Ijuuin lived in. "Did she make you uncomfortable?" Yuu asked taking off his glasses. "I just didn't like the way she saw you. At a point, I was very tempted to tell her that the only one who could look at you that way...is me" Ijuuin answered sending blood to Yuu's face.

As the elevator doors closed, Kyo grabbed Yuu's face with both hands and quickly landed a kiss on his lips. It was probably because of the jealousy, but Ijuuin's kiss was extremely intense almost to the point of making Yuu's lips ache. Pushing Yuu against one of the elevator's walls, sensei inserted his tongue into Yuu's mouth "Ngh". Yuu tried hard not to get swept away but for a long time he had known Ijuuin's kisses were dangerous. Those lips could drain his strength in seconds, placate the worst of his moods and even make him confess his deepest thoughts.

Just as Ijuuin had started to slide his hands down Yuu's body, the beeping sound of the elevator announced they had reached their destination. Kyo broke the kiss leaving Yanase to regain his breath. "We could've been seen!" Yuu protested as he set his hand against his mouth in a very unsuccessful effort of erasing the lingering sensation of sensei's lips. "Right. That's why we will continue where no one can see us" sensei replied as they both stepped into Kyo's apartment. Despite him displaying his usual flirty smile, Yuu noticed something was wrong with his expression today. That smile didn't look as real like the ones sensei would always show.

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It was past midnight when they finished eating dinner. Yuu was getting ready to go to rest when he saw Kyo sitting on the couch reading manga. This was not new, but again, he could clearly notice sensei had a strange expression almost as in reflecting sadness. Something had to be behind Ijuuin's  strange mood today and he for sure wanted to find out what it was.

Almost instinctively, Yuu sat next to him, he was about to ask what was wrong when sensei spoke "Are you sleepy?" he asked turning to look at him. "A little" Yuu quickly answered. Putting the manga he was reading aside and without saying a word, Ijuuin put his arms around Yuu and got him to sit on his lap without facing him. Yuu tried to struggle at first but he was quickly imprisoned by sensei's arms and legs tightly wrapped around his body.

"I have something to tell you" Kyo whispered into Yuu's ear from behind making him tickle. "Me too" he answered trying to make sensei feel comfortable with whatever it was he needeed to say, because it had to be the reason behind his weird behavior.  "You first then" Kyo spoke biting Yuu's earlobe and pressing his face against Yanase's hair. "I- I will start working with a new author" Yuu said steadily trying not to get fully lost in sensei's moves. "I'm glad, congratulations. Who is it?" Ijuuin asked in low voice "Fujino- sensei".

Fujino Aki- sensei was one of Marukawa's newest authors. He had debuted only six years ago at the age of 23 and, just like Ijuuin- sensei, he was the author of a popular shonen manga that was published in Monthly Japun. His work was solid and already had a big fanbase due to him writing the typical superhero manga every reader wanted to see. Recently his chief assistant had resigned and gone to work with another author. And while Yuu had never really met the guy, Fujino- sensei had personally called him asking him to start working as his chief assistant. Yuu had hesitated at first since he was already working with too many authors, but Fujino- sensei had insisted day after day after day until Yuu had finally accepted the job offer.

"I don't really know him" Kyo commented removing his face from Yuu's hair. "Me neither, but Kirishima- san is also in charge of his work, so I trust him" Yuu said moving his head backwards landing on Kyo's shoulder. "Was Kirishima- san the one who asked you to work with him?" Ijuuin asked turning to look at him. "No it was Fujino- sensei himself, he said he had heard about my work from other authors" Yanase answered wondering why Ijuuin seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea. He worked with a lot of authors all the time, after all.

Ijuuin- sensei had never really asked him to sign with him, probably because he knew that Yuu enjoyed freelancing. Plus there was no denying that many authors, Chaki included, would totally fall apart if Yanase didn't help them. "When do you start as his assistant?" Kyo said setting his hands underneath Yanase's sweater. "I- in two weeks" Yuu told him trying to not let Kyo's hands explore further, if sensei's kisses were dangerous, his hands were very much equally so. Once they started exploring, they would for sure find Yuu's weak spots...this time however, as soon as he had answered sensei's last question, Ijuuin had stopped his attentions. Huh? Thinking about how strange Ijuuin's action had been, he turned to look and found Kyo wearing a concerned expression.

"About that something I needed to tell you...I also have something happening in two weeks" sensei started looking right into Yuu's eyes. This really didn't seem good. "Yeah, what is it?" Yuu asked feeling a little anxious. The curiosity was driving him mad. Ijuuin dropped his gaze down and tightened his arms around Yuu's waist. Taking a deep breath, after a minute, he spoke "I am traveling overseas...to Paris".