[Fic] Fashion Craze Chapter 5

[aya_magic]

Title: Fashion Craze
Author: Me (iris_aya)
Genre: AU, romance, blah blah
Rating: PG- 16 for the time being, language etc.  It’s just mainly to be safe.
Warning: boyxboy pairing, general kookiness, probably a lot of crazy typos/spelling mistakes
Pairing: Akame, and a few others mentioned
Beta’d By: sweetpaopuwind
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with JE, and obviously I cannot "own" these people. I also, in no way, make monetary profit off this.
Summary: An overworked, mostly ignored, and inspired Kamenashi Kazuya has a run-in with current top model, Akanishi Jin.  Two papers, a nearly forgotten dream, and a little help from one party’s forwardness helps pull the two together.
A/N:  Huge thank you to sweetpaopuwind for offering to beta this at the last second

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[Chapter 5]

[Second Month]

[Jin’s Apartment: 6am]

“G’morning,” Jin yawned, picking up his toothbrush to stand next to Kame.

The younger one already stood in the washroom, brushing his teeth. “Morning…” he answered tiredly, trying to blink the haze from his eyes.

“Ah, want a ride to work?” Jin offered, “You said you’re just doing inventory with the interns today, right?”

“What time are you done today?” Kame asked while wiping his mouth.

“By four, unless something goes wrong at a photo shoot,” Jin offered and then smiled broadly. “You won’t be done until like five or six, right?”

“Maybe later, why?” Kame frowned.

“I’ll come visit you at work, bring you dinner or something.  I’m curious as to what you actually do,” Jin excitedly answered.

Kame frowned. “I don’t do much of anything, Jin.  I mean I’ll start prep for a photo shoot in a few days but that’s about it,” he sighed.

“Aww, please?” Jin pouted at him, hoping his adorable expression would win him points.

Kame sighed, unable to resist the look. “All right, all right, you can come visit. I can’t promise Matsumoto will allow you to stay, though.  It kind of depends on if he’s in a good mood or not.”

“Everyone’s in a good mood when I’m in the room.” Jin flashed him a winning smile.

Kame rolled his eyes. “Are you going to have time to go out for lunch today?”

Jin frowned in thought. “I have half an hour, but I have to get from one location to the other.  Why?”

“Don’t worry about it and just get ready for work. You’re not even dressed yet,” Kame scoffed before leaving the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Jin walked into the kitchen, knowing it was the only other place in the apartment the younger man could be.

“What are you doing?” He glanced at the clock.

Kame turned around in surprise. “Ah, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, but we have some time,” he said as Kame placed a wrapped container in front of him. “What is this?” His tired brain couldn’t keep up with the process.

“I made you lunch really fast. Luckily I had some things prepped for lunches the other day,” Kame replied offhandedly. He sat down at the table to rest his head for a minute.

Jin pulled him into a hug. “Aww, I love you so much, Kazu~” he sang, pecking Kame on the cheek.

Kame turned bright red. Covering his face, he sighed, “I’m sure, Jin, I’m sure.”

“He acts just like this with the girls,” Kame thought simply.

Jin pouted lightly but finally let go, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, of course,” Kame grabbed his own bento and things before heading towards the door.  He slipped his shoes on at the doorway, Jin quickly joining him.

As soon as they opened the door there was loud music coming from the open door across the hall.

A voice joined the song.

♪You so, so lame and no one here even mentions your name.  It must be the weed, it must be the E, cause you popping hood your get it popping, oh~♪

Jin grinned, “That’s why Midori didn’t become a singer.”

“Midori!” Ayame groaned, “Turn that song off!  I’m so tired of you playing that song, over and over again!  I get the idea, Pi is obsessed with you, or you’re obsessed with him.  But you don’t need him blah, blah.  TURN IT OFF!”

Midori began to sing louder, so Jin hurried Kame to the elevator.

[Marc Jacob, Ginza: 4:30 pm]

Jin hurried through the front door and smiled politely at the secretary.

“Can you tell me where in the building Kazuya is?” He grinned brightly at her.

She turned bright red. “Ah, g-go up to the second floor. I believe he should be in the second door on the left.”

“Thank you.” He flashed her one last smile before going to the elevator.  He shifted the bags he carried carefully, double checking the contents with a satisfied grin.

He found the appointed room simply. “Hey, Kazu!”

Kame looked up from the clothing racks and smiled. “Hey.”

“Is Matsumoto around?” Jin looked around warily, just now remembering the other’s boss.

“He’s around somewhere, but I cut my lunch and breaks short earlier to help the new intern.” He rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

Jin followed him to a break room and quickly set everything out. “So I wasn’t sure exactly what you would be in the mood for so I got ramen, katsudon, sushi, if you want pasta I got some fettuccini alfredo,  there’s also some takoyaki, inari…” he trailed off.

Kame looked up at him with wide eyes. “How are we supposed to eat all of this?”

“I’ll take home whatever is left over, or…” he frowned.

“What?” Kame asked.

“I was going to say you could take home the left-over food but you’re almost never at your apartment,” Jin smiled sheepishly.

Kame shrugged lightly before opening the container with the sushi, “Ah!  Squid!  I love squid,” he exclaimed happily before popping a piece in his mouth.

Jin watched the happily munching Kame for a few minutes before pulling the pasta towards himself.  He was twirling his fork expertly when the door opened.

“Kamenashi…” Matsumoto started and frowned when Jin turned around and waved happily, “I didn’t know you were going to be visiting today, Akanishi.”

“It was pretty last minute,” Jin grinned. “You needed Kazuya for something?” he queried seemingly innocently.

Matsumoto frowned for a moment before sighing. “It can wait until after your break, then I expect to see you back at prepping for the photo shoot, Kamenashi.”

“I hope it’s ok that Jin stays. He wanted to see how it works on this end,” Kame explained carefully.

“I guess it’s fine for today, just don’t make a habit of it,” Matsumoto sighed before leaving the room.

“I think he decided he couldn’t yell at me in front of a top model,” Kame sighed while shaking his head. “He’s normally quite annoyed with me, I assure you.”

“Ehh?  Annoyed with you?  Impossible,” Jin frowned.

“You’d be amazed,” Kame grinned before opening the ramen. “Ah what ramen place did you go to?”

[Ayame’s Apartment]

Jin and Kame walked down the hall only to stop as a magazine went flying by them and into the wall.

“Damn that Yamashita!” Midori shouted, coming into the hall to retrieve the magazine.

“Stop yelling!  They can probably hear you on the floor below us!” Ayame walked out and grabbed Midori by the arm, “Ah!  JinJin!  KazuKazu!  Okaeri!”

“Tadaima?” Jin said weakly. “Ah, is that PopEye?”

“Yes.  It is!” Midori hissed, “Did you know about this?  He must have told you his master plan!”

“Master plan?” Kame tilted his head.

“Don’t listen to her; she’s deranged.  She’s gone two weeks without any sex and she’s remembering that she still has two and a half weeks.” Ayame rolled her eyes dramatically.

“I am not deranged!  He posed like that, all sexy, appealing, shirtless, with very appealing jewelry on purpose!  He knew I would see this during our challenge.  He wants to weaken my resolve! I can’t believe he started stripping in front of a camera again!  We agreed no more stripping after his sexy-as-hell AnAn photo shoot.  Damn this whore-bag… well he’s my whore-bag,” Opening the magazine again and groaning, she said, “Why must he look so goo…. NO I am STILL angry at him, help me plot his demise, Aya, NOW!”

Ayame sighed. “Yes, dear, of course we will…” She patted the girl on the head and steered her back into her apartment. “Excuse the idiocy, darlings!  Oh yes, Ryo had to reschedule dinner for next week.”

[One Week Later]

[Jin’s Apartment, 7am]

Jin jumped when the door to the sewing room slammed open. Kame shifted on his shoulder sleepily.

“It’s too early,” Kame mumbled, snuggling further into Jin’s side.

“Day off,” Jin complained.

“Awww so cute!” Pi exclaimed, snapping a picture of the subconsciously cuddling couple with his phone before remembering why he was there in the first place.

Jin finally opened his eyes sleepily. “What are you doing here, Pi?”

Kame sat up without thinking. “It’s seven in the morning, too early…”

“WHAT IS THIS?” Pi demanded, shoving a magazine in front of Jin’s face.

Jin blinked, “Too close to my face, man.” He pushed the magazine away and focused, “Oh, the new issue of AnAn?  You woke me up to show me the new AnAn?!” he demanded.

Kame blinked the sleep out of his eyes and frowned. “Is that Midori?”

“Yes, this is Midori!” Pi snapped. “In AnAn, with Okada Junnichi?!” he ranted. “It was only supposed to be Okada Junnichi in this but then THIS COMES OUT!”

“Why are you shouting at us about it?” Jin groaned.

“Because I can’t shout at her about this!  She did this on PURPOSE!  Because of that stupid challenge that she wasn’t even supposed to take to heart!” Pi crossed his arms heatedly, “She knew I would do it purposefully.”

“I wonder if this is the revenge…” Jin mumbled. “She claimed your PopEye was on purpose to tease her and demanded Aya help her with revenge.  I wonder if this is it… I mean they’ve asked her a few times in the past to consider it. I guess she decided to say yes.” Jin shrugged. “Nothing you can do about it now.”

“Damn, Aya does quick work,” Kame mused. “It’s only been a week.”

“And why couldn’t it have been Midori, huh? I’m not really sure what you’re going for with that sentence there. Why couldn’t it have been Midori for what? Midori is perfectly capable of getting this worked out, AnAn has been…” Pi started to rant to defend his girlfriend.

“Because Midori makes huge proclamations all the time and Aya makes sure she gets what she wants.” Jin rolled his eyes. “Go take this up with them instead of bothering us.”

Pi frowned. “Well, I don’t have a key for Aya’s apartment or I would have, and they won’t answer the door.”

“Call her phone,” Kame suggested. “They’re both glued to their phones.”

Pi smiled. Getting an idea, he sent a quick picture message.  Less than a minute later both girls stumbled into the room, still wearing pajamas.

“Where is…” Ayame began to pout and Midori immediately followed, “Don’t tease us with pictures like that only to dash our hopes and dreams!”

“Meanie head!” Midori smacked Pi.

“Ow!” Pi complained. “Oi! You!  What is THIS about?” He shoved the magazine in Midori’s face.

Midori smiled sweetly. “You know I love you, Aya.”

“Of course you had something to do with this!” Pi accused Ayame.

“So I called in a favor,” Ayame shrugged innocently. “They needed a model and Okada is pretty sexy.”

“I’m telling Ryo you said that,” Pi answered childishly.

“As if he cares.” She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Midori, it’s too early for me to be awake.  Especially when I’m not getting any Akame-goodness just yet.” She sniffed and left.

“Good job making her annoyed,” Midori glared and Pi before snatching the magazine, “Damn I look sexy in this,” she smirked before tossing it back at him, “Have fun without me sweetie,” she teased before leaving.

“Akame?” Kame frowned, his tired mind unable to process the information.

“Oh, it’s your couple name,” Pi said simply, frowning at the magazine in thought.

“C-co-couple name?!” Jin demanded, “We’re not a couple.

“This picture says otherwise,” Pi grinned, “Now if you excuse me, I have another week and a half without my girlfriend and I have to attempt to burn every single one of these magazines in existence.”

Both men watched him leave confusedly.

“We’re not a couple,” Kame pouted.

“D-definitely not,” Jin frowned.

“Isn’t… aren’t we supposed to go to Ryo’s tonight for dinner?” Kame said quickly to redirect the topic.

“Yeah, that’s tonight…” Jin trailed off, looking to where the completed designs stood, “There’ll be a lot of people there.”

“What do you mean?” Kame turned ot him worriedly.

“Well… you, me, Aya, Midori, Pi, Izza, Ueda, Yuu and Koyama her manager, Amaya can’t make it… Kazu might show up.  I think Kazu said her flight was delayed until tomorrow though… Koki won’t be able to make it back in time, Yuu is overseas…” Jin listed off.

[Ryo’s House]

“Can someone answer the door?” Ryo called after the third chime of the bell and still no one answered it.

“Midori!” Ayame whined from the kitchen, “Go get the door!”

“Pi!” Midori pouted at her boyfriend from across the room.

“Why me?” Pi said.

“I’ll get the door,” Ueda sighed, “Even though it’s not my house, nor is it my good friend’s house,” he sighed and walked to the front door.

“Thank you dear!” Izza sang and Ueda flashed her a small smile.

“Hey, Yuu,” Ueda smiled to greet the girl.

“Hey you~” She greeted, “You haven’t met Koyama yet!  Ueda, this is my manager Koyama, Koyama this is Ueda, Izza’s boyfriend remember?”

Both exchanged pleasantries before receding back into the house.

Kame fidgeted before ringing the doorbell, “Are you sure I look ok?” he bit his lip.

“Perfect, you look perfect,” Jin reassured him, surprised the younger had spoken, “And before you ask, yes we have six of the looks completed, don’t worry.”

Kame frowned again, he had just spent the whole day avoiding Jin in any form.  Every time he so much as thought of the other he remembered them being called a couple and had to take a few minutes to calm down.

Jin frowned as the other fell silent again.  No amount of pouting had been able to get the other to look at him, all day.  Now if it was just for a few hours he would have tolerated it but a whole day was ridiculous, at least he thought.  He wasn’t sure exactly when he had come to NEED the other man’s attention. 

He had a feeling it was sometime during the other’s business trip when he woke up or returned home from work every day to remember he wouldn’t be greeted ‘Good morning’ or be able to welcome the other back from work.  Or maybe even it had been when he first heard the other’s praise of his work, that brilliant smile on his face.  He smiled himself, he loved when he managed to coax the other to smile like that, a bit crooked and maybe a bit goofy but beyond perfect to him.  He frowns when he thinks of the implications but decides to ignore it for now,

They heard muffled yelling from inside and Kame looked up worriedly.

“Do you think everything’s ok?” Kame looked at the other, felt the heat rise in his cheeks and looked away.

Jin pouted but then sighed, “Don’t worry, happens every time.”

Izza happily opened the door, “You guys made it safe!” She hugged both of them quickly before dragging them inside.

“Everyone trying to get someone else to answer the door?” Jin guessed.

“That and Midori just mentioned she’s going to cut her hair even shorter…” Izza laughed.

“But her hair is already short!” Kame exclaimed.

“See, KazuKazu agrees with me!” Ayame exclaimed, latching onto Kame’s arm and bringing him to sit next to her, “You don’t need shorter hair!”

“But I want to cut my haaair!” Midori whined.

“But I love your hair the way it is,” Pi attempted, smiling charmingly.

“That settles it, I’m cutting it,” Midori huffed, crossing her arms and putting Yuu and Koyama between her and Pi.

Koyama chuckled, “It never gets old, coming to see you all.”

[Jin’s Apartment]

Jin threw himself onto the couch, his back and head aching.  The wine had dulled his thought processes slightly, and apparently Kame’s as well seeing as the other threw himself down next to something.

“I can’t believe Yuu is dating her manager,” Kame yawned, starting to lean into Jin like he had in his sleep.

“We all knew it was coming eventually,” Jin answered simply, smiling at the slight weight against his arm, “Hey… why have you been avoiding me today?  You can’t want to back out, it’s a bit too late and Ryo was thrilled to hear we’re almost finished…”

“Of course I’m not avoiding you, and I definitely don’t want to back out,” Kame frowned, sitting up.  The haze created by the alcohol cleared at bit.

“You won’t look at me for more than a few seconds, you almost never talked to me all day.  Before the party whenever I entered a room you’d leave and you’d stay away from me,” Jin pouted, looking at the younger man worriedly, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No you… it’s not your fault,” Kame chewed on his lip, “Look it’s alright, don’t worry.  I… I need some air,” Kame sighed and walked out to the balcony.  The fresh air helped clear his mind a bit more and he looked out at the city lights worriedly, “You just had to fall, didn’t you?  Without even realizing it either.” He hit his own head while he thought.

“Look…” Jin started, having followed the other out onto the balcony, “I feel like crap when you won’t tell me things.  I don’t know when your opinion of me and what I do became so important… that’s a lie I think I know exactly when but that’s not the point…”

Kame frowned, “What are you trying to say?”

“I don’t like it when you ignore me, won’t look me in the eyes, I don’t like it when you go out of your way to avoid me,” Jin frowned, “I need your attention and you’ll probably think I’m insane but,” he grabbed the other and pulled him in.

Kame froze at the sudden kiss, knowing full well me might regret it later.

Jin drew away and watched the other nervously, “Oh… I’m sorry you totally… I shouldn’t have…”

“Then I must be insane too,” Kame smiled before reaching up and capturing another kiss, grasping the other’s jacket for leverage.

When they broke apart Jin grinned, “I think we did things in the wrong order…”

Kame smiled, “We’ll go on a date later.”

“Not until after the eighth piece is finished,” Jin corrected sternly.

“I never would have pegged you to be that type.  Akanishi Jin, stern deadline follower,” Kame chuckled.

“Well once our minds aren’t filled with patterns, buttons, and thread we’ll have much more time for other things,” he stole a quick kiss before shoving the other inside, “It’s too hot outside.”

[One Week Later]

♪Cut my hair 'cuz it reminded me of you, I know you like the long 'do ♪

Jin stirred as he heard singing and then the following complaints.

“Midori!” Ayame complained as she took her shoes off and stepped up into Jin’s apartment.

“I have to sing it!  Look at my hair!” Midori whined, pointing specifically to her hair.

“I know!” Ayame hissed and stopped once she reached the living room.  Midori ran into her and stumbled backwards.

“What are you doing?” Midori demanded.

Ayame took out her phone and immediately began to take pictures, “They’re sooo cute!” she squealed.

Midori looked into the living room and followed suit, “Awwww!”

Ayame finished taking pictures of the couple.  Jin had fallen asleep against Kame, his arms wrapped around the slim waist with his head on the other’s chest.  Kame’s hand had found itself in the other’s hair with its twin resting on the other’s arm.

“When did you two start going out?” Midori demanded, loudly.

Kame jolted awake, knocking Jin awake with his sudden movement.

“I know we’ve been busy for a whole week but you’re already at this point!” Midori continued.

“Purposefully snuggling and everything!” Ayame started and then pouted, “I thought we were your best friends.  You weren’t supposed to keep anything from us.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Jin whined, turning red at being caught, “I… It just kind of happened, last week!”

“Last week!” Midori whined, loudly, “That’s AGES ago!”

“We’ll forgive you on one condition,” Ayame started.

“We will?” Midori asked with narrowed eyes.

Ayame made a gesture and Midori immediately pretended to text on her phone.

“Show us a kiss and we’ll forgive you both for being mean and keeping us out of the loop. You know how I hate being out of the loop, Jin.” Ayame said dangerously.

“What?” Kame squeaked, his face burning in embarrassment.

“Well it’s just a kiss,” Jin started.

“In front of them?” Kame gestured widely.

“Please, that is definitely not the thing to be embarrassed about,” Jin sighed, “You know it’ll make them happy and not bother us… and when they won’t bother us their boyfriends won’t…” He hinted.

Kame bit his lip and looked at the pouting Ayame and Midori, “Fine!  Just a quick kiss though,” he leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Jin’s lips.

Midori snapped a quick video, “I got it!” She exclaimed.

Ayame immediately high-fived her, “I love being this awesome!  Good job, twinsie!”

“Well it was a good idea, just pretend to text while setting up the camera settings to perfection.  And it’s not as if Jin would refuse and Kame is already a definite victim of the Midori and Ayame pout attack, he couldn’t escape.”

“Akame rabu rabu!” Ayame cheered, looking at the video and replaying it over and over, “Let’s take captures of this and frame the best one!”

“I have the perfect picture frame!” Midori squealed in joy.

Kame buried his head in Jin’s neck, unable to take any more embarrassment, “Jiiin!” he whined.

“Ok girls you had your fun.  What did you want?” Jin sighed, already used to their erratic behavior.

“Oh, I cut my hair, doesn’t it look fabulous?” Midori spun lightly.

“Absolutely amazing, really,” Jin agreed and sent them pointed looks.

“Fine, fine.  We’ll leave you to your love nest,” Ayame took the hint, “Don’t forget the photo shoot in a couple of hours!” she reminded before they left.

“I need to get the lock changed,” Jin groaned.

“That wouldn’t stop them,” Kame sighed, “Aya would get some contact to hack your lock…”

“That’s probably true,” Jin buried his face in Kame’s hair, “Well at least they’re not adverse to this?” he tried to look on the positive side.

[One Week Later]

[Hallway]

Jin happily exited the elevator, fingers laced with Kame’s hand as Ayame and Midori stepped out of the apartment.

“I thought you moved back home already…” Kame frowned.

“I did, we’re going to Ryo’s house today.  He’s finally finished his collection, check your voicemail,” Midori suggested.

Jin dragged out his phone, noting that he had left it on silent after the movie.

“Apparently your phone is switched off.  Hopefully you’ll get this message soon, or Aya will drag your ass over here.  I just finished my new collection so I want you to come over and give me an opinion.  Bring Kame too if you can.” Ryo’s voice filtered from his voicemail.

“Do you want to go?” Jin asked, “We don’t have to if you…”

“Of course I want to go.” Kame said excitedly, “We can right?”

“I don’t have to go to work again today, so of course.  We’ll follow you both over there,” Jin smiled at the girls.

[Ryo’s House]

Kame looked nervously at their joined hands.  He knew the girls were thrilled about the relationship, and Pi had seemed to find it cute but they hadn’t heard from Ryo yet.  The designer had been locked in his house the past two weeks, not even Ayame had seen him.

“He always does this in the last week or two of finishing his collection,” Jin had explained after Ayame had explained she wasn’t allowed to go visit Ryo, “He’s said that he can only allow his concentration to be on the collection.  Each time we worry he’s going to let himself starve to death.  Luckily he responds to e-mails during it but still…”

He wasn’t sure if he could tolerate the older man reacting badly to the new couple.  He wasn’t even sure if they could be termed a couple at this point.  It had only been two weeks since their confessions and they still hadn’t been out on a date.  Not a proper date, he had to resist the urge to pout every time he thought about it.  Matsumoto had been keeping him at work to all hours and Jin was too busy perfecting every stitch and button on the collection after he finished work.  Did they even act like a couple?

He watched carefully as Pi opened the door.

“Hey!  I thought you guys were never going to make it,” he grinned happily.

They stepped into the house and Kame smiled when Pi immediately pulled Midori in for a deep kiss.

“Spare us,” Ayame rolled her eyes and walked forward.

Midori pulled herself away from Pi long enough to stick her tongue out at Ayame before smiling broadly, “Miss me?”

“Every second,” Pi responded.

Kame looked around thoughtfully, not concentrating on any one thing.  Their relationship hardly had the intensity of Pi and Midori’s relationship.  Consisting less of desperate, charged kisses and more of lingering, chaste kisses.

“Would it kill you to air out your house while you go into your sewing craze?” Ayame demanded from another room.

“That allows too much noise in,” Ryo retorted.

Kame wandered into the living room to find Ayame opening every window she could reach.  This was followed by her opening a drawer and pulling out a freshening spray.  She sprayed it twice before smiling.

“How did things go?” She asked quietly, smiling fondly at her boyfriend.

Kame watched the ease with which she fixed his hair, straightened his clothing.

“They went fine, as always,” Ryo assured her, “I missed you though,” he placed a kiss on her forehead, “Did you eat properly?”

“Midori bothered me to make sure I ate every meal properly,” She assured him, “I’m more worried about you, locking yourself in this house for two weeks.”

Nor did their relationship have constant bickering laced with intense caring and comfort.  He felt even more self-conscious of their fledgling relationship, not considering the differences between their relationships.

“You ok? You look kind of out of it,” Jin gently nudged him in the side before pecking his lips.  Kame nodded silently.

Ryo glanced over when Ayame snapped a quick picture.  He smiled lightly, “Do you want to see the collection, Kame?  I’m afraid you’re the only one who hasn’t seen a single piece of it.”

“Is it ok?” Kame asked unsurely.

“Of course, I wouldn’t have asked you over if it wasn’t.  Come on,” He dragged the other into another room.

Kame looked around with wide eyes, “They’re amazing,” he mumbled, “I’m so jealous, that you’re able to create these by yourself.  I wish I had half the inspiration you must have.”

“It helps when you have the perfect muse,” Ryo smiled gently, “You just need to find your muse, who knows maybe you found him already.”

Kame turned bright red as he glanced to where the four models had congregated, debating over outfits.

“You’re both too obvious, we’ve been waiting for it to happen,” he rolled his eyes, “Just try some sketching later and see how it turns out, you might be surprised at the results.” He sighed, “I hope you guys are almost finished with the samples?”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely be done in the next week,” Kame assured him, “Just the last few things need to be finished…”

“Take your time if you need it, I have time.  My collection is being shown in four weeks, I hope you’ll be there.” Ryo smiled, handing over an invitation to the event.

“Are you serious?” Kame asked, staring at the invitation in shock.

“Of course.  You won’t be able to sit with Jin because he’s in the show but you’re welcome to sit with me.” Ryo offered.

“Won’t you be backstage making sure everything goes perfectly?” Kame asked.

“Once all the models are prepped I won’t be.  That’s what assistants and assistant designers are for.” Ryo frowned, “But that means you’re going to have to tell Matsumoto, and I don’t think he’s going to react well.”

“I think his head is going to explode once I tell him.  I’ll wait until I get your decision on my collection,” Kame sighed.

“Good luck, I think you’re going to need it for dealing with him.”

“What are you two doing over there?” Pi laughed, “Come debate pieces with us!  You’ve already picked models now we need to pick who gets what piece!” He gestured to the headshots of all the models pinned to the wall.

[Jin’s Apartment]

Jin frowned at Kame, the other had been acting odd from the moment they had left to see the collection.  He pulled the other down next to him.

“Hey, what wrong?”

“Nothing,” Kame answered quickly.

“Kazu…” Jin started.

“Are we really a couple?” Kame asked suddenly.

“Of course,” Jin frowned, “Why would that worry you?”

“We aren’t anything like Midori and Pi or Ryo and Aya,” Kame sighed, “We don’t kiss every time we see each other like it’s been months since we last saw each other.  We don’t bicker meaninglessly about useless things and then lapse into comforting conversation.”

“Kazu… Midori and Pi have always been like that, they’re just far too physically attracted to one another.  Even five years together hasn’t changed them.  And Aya and Ryo?  They’ve been together four years and they thrive off arguing.  Of course we’re not like them, but we could be one day.” Jin smirked, “Is this some elaborate way of saying you want more kissing?”

Kame rolled his eyes, “I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Jin leaned forward and caught the younger man’s lips with his own, applying more pressure than he would have previously.  After a few moments Kame felt his tongue sweep across his lower lip, seeking access.  He quickly received it but before he could use it Kame was pushing him gentle away.

“Sorry, I’ll make it up to you later,” He leaned forward and gave the older man another kiss, “I just got an idea for a sketch, a few of them actually.”

“That’s what you were thinking of while kissing me?” Jin pouted though he could barely keeping himself from grinning.

Kame smirked, “I suppose I was, wasn’t I?”

“Does that mean I at least get to be your inspiration for this one?” Jin grinned in self satisfaction.

“Yeah, I guess it does, now stop talking,” Kame instructed, pulling his sketching material from a bag he had tossed onto the table.

Chapter 6