Double Story

Chapter One

“Ah, you came!” said , smiling.

“Tezuka-kun, you made it! Good to see you again – it’s been a while,” said.

“Indeed it has,” replied Tezuka, taking the seat beside . “Sorry for making you wait. I was held up at a meeting.”

“We didn’t wait long,” assured him.

“It gave us time to pick our food first anyway. Here. Your turn.” pushed a menu towards him. “You might want to try #14. It’s really good. I told , but she doesn’t like that sort of thing.”

The beeping of a phone in her bag interrupted her. Seeing the caller ID, she frowned slightly.

“What does he want now?” she muttered, before answering it. “Yes? I’m at lunch… No, you cannot come. I’m with my friend and – argh!” stood up and said to and Tezuka, “Excuse me for a bit” – in a louder voice – “an idiot needs to be sorted out.” She walked out of the restaurant to continue her conversation.

The other two watched her go, but said nothing. Tezuka merely continued reading the menu.

“Decided what to eat yet, Tezuka?” asked , after a few moments.

“Not quite. What are you having?”

“I think I’m going to try #20. Haven’t been here before, but says #23 and #5 are good too.”

“I see.”

couldn’t help watching him as he studied the menu. He hadn’t really changed much since junior high, she thought. Still serious, but a less antisocial now. Taller than he had been in school, which was rather frightening in a way, when one thought about it.

“Perhaps I shall have #3,” he said eventually.

“Okay. Should we call the waitress over so we can place our orders?”

“What about -san?”

“Oh, that’s okay. I know what she wants,” said . “In any case, she’s coming back.” She pointed to the door, through which walked an exasperated-looking .

sat down and slumped in her chair before straightening herself. “Sorry. Looks like we’re going to have another person here. My idiot friend insisted on coming. I told him ‘no’ and hung up, but knowing him, he’ll come anyway.”  

“Who is it?” asked , trying to recall which of ’s “idiot friends” this could be.

shot her a look and muttered, “Don’t ask.”

After placing their orders, excused herself to go to the washroom. Tezuka found his eyes involuntarily following her graceful, confident stride. He noted that both and walked similarly – it was the walk of purposeful and successful young women. Even so, he knew that was often far from self-confident. She had been like that for as long as he’d known her - looking more in control than she really felt.

A crisply-dressed man entered the restaurant. Tezuka’s eyebrows rose slightly. saw him look up and turned. She groaned.

“I knew it. He would come. One day I’ll kill him or... Or… Argh. Tezuka-san, I apologise in advance.”

“Insignificant muttering does not become you, .”

“Shut up. Who said you could come?”

“Ore-sama does not need anyone’s permission for this.”

’s eyes flashed, but before she could retort, Atobe suddenly noticed the person opposite her.

“Tezuka?”

“Atobe.” He nodded slightly, also surprised at seeing Atobe Keigo, but kept his face impassive.

“Why are you here with him?” demanded Atobe of .

“You know each other?” she asked Tezuka.

“Ah.” He looked at Atobe. “But it’s been a long time since we met.”

Atobe kept his eyes on her and repeated his question, “Why are you here with him?”

“Can I not be?” she said, defiantly. She had been about to tell him that Tezuka was here at ’s invitation, but Atobe’s manner of questioning her turned up all her contrariness. Who was he to question her like that anyway? “It’s not a crime to be out with a guy.”

Atobe fixed his glare on her for a moment before replacing it with his usual smirk. “No indeed,” he said, sliding into the seat beside . “It certainly isn’t.”

He folded his arms and threw a cool gaze at Tezuka, who merely blinked and said nothing.

“You’re being rude,” said .

“Oh? Did I interrupt something?”  

Tezuka shifted in his chair. What was she thinking? He suddenly wished would hurry up and come back. Atobe was glaring daggers at both of them now, and seemed intent on letting him continue to misunderstand as long as possible. He suspected she was taking revenge on Atobe for his imperious way of barging into her lunch date with friends.

“If you must invite yourself like this, you could at least be nice!”

“You –”

“Back,” said , coming to the table. Tezuka rose to allow her to reach her seat more easily. Atobe stared at her, startled.

“, this is my idiot friend, Atobe Keigo. Keigo, my colleague, ,” said , a little smugly. “Tezuka-san here is her old friend. His office is nearby, so we invited him for lunch.”

Tezuka supposed that if Atobe could feel embarrassed, now was a point when he might be embarrassed indeed.

***

flopped down on the sofa in their studio. “That Keigo! He’s always so exasperating…”

laughed, moving to her desk and getting ready to resume work.

“But I didn’t know you knew him, .”

“Oh, I don’t really know him. I’ve seen him a couple of times and heard of him, but that was back in school.”

“Tennis stuff, huh?”

“Yeah. Tezuka and Syuusuke and the others talked about his school quite a bit. ‘Hyoutei,’ I think it was. Even Saeki knew him.”

“I see.” sighed. “No wonder he’s still so arrogant. All that attention in school must have really gone to his head. As if it wasn’t enough that he’s so rich.” She got up from the sofa and went to her own table.

twirled her pencil, staring at the designs in front of her. “You’ve known Atobe long?”

“Too long, maybe. I’ve known him since we were kids. Our fathers were classmates in university or something.”

“Hmm. Makes sense. Not surprising, since you’re so rich and Atobe is too.”

“Only I’m not as bratty as he is.” She looked over at . “How do you do that?”

Her dark-haired partner looked up, pencil mid-stroke on the paper. “Do what?”

“Draw and talk about something totally unrelated to your design.”

“You do that sometimes too, .”  

“But not as often as you do! I swear, sometimes I think you’re half a genius.”

“Only half?” chuckled .

“Yeah. I’m the other half.” winked, and both women laughed.

“But Keigo aside,” continued . “How was lunch? Did you have fun?”

“Mm. Yeah,” replied the other.

“Maybe we should invite Tezuka to lunch more often…”

cast a look at . “O-kay. What’s this about?”

’s grey-green eyes glinted. “Well, he’s pleasant to have around. And you certainly enjoy having him there.”

“…”

“Oh, come, dear. I think there’s really something there. It’s not very obvious, but sometimes – sometimes – there’s this way he looks at you…”

“Just because he looks at me a certain way sometimes doesn’t mean anything,” said . “Though I wish it was true, I just can’t believe it unless he actually says something first. For now, we’re just friends.” A slightly pained look crossed her face at the last sentence, but she returned to the dress she was designing, concentration seemingly doubled.

watched her friend draw and wished that Tezuka would say something to . Not that would pine away for him and be about as much use as a vegetable – no, was stronger than that. But still… It would be nice to see that particular wish of hers come true. 

***

The phone on his desk rang. Tezuka reached out with his right hand and picked it up almost automatically, though he was still focussed on the latest article just in from one of the journalists.

“Tezuka here,” he said, eyes still scanning the papers in his left hand.

“It’s me.”

He put down the papers and frowned. That voice was familiar, but he couldn’t place it at the moment.

“I’m sorry. Who is this?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Are you joking, Tezuka?” came the controlled response. Tezuka knew he’d definitely heard that tone of voice somewhere before. Nevertheless, he just could not remember who it was. It had been a long day at the office, with meetings for the next issue of the magazine and several long new pieces handed in that needed to be checked and edited in the next two days. He was tired and not at all in the mood to play guessing games. An editor’s job wasn’t easy.

“No, I am not joking.”

Another pause.

Tezuka waited. He was giving this person just another twenty seconds to answer. Otherwise, he’d hang up.

“This is Atobe.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Do you mean to tell me you seriously could not recognise my voice?” was the irritated question from Atobe.

“Before last week, I had not seen you for at least four years, Atobe,” said Tezuka, Atobe’s self-absorption finally getting to him. “And I only saw you for an hour last week. Do you really think that I have your voice burned into my memory? I am not a hand phone. I don’t have caller ID in my brain.”

“And here I thought you were all-perfect,” said Atobe, sarcastically.

The young editor did not deign to respond to it. He could think of better ways to use his energy than thinking up responses to Atobe. He didn’t believe in beating around the bush when he had so much on his hands, so he went straight to the point. “I have a great deal of work to do, Atobe. Is there any reason in particular for this call?”

“Of course. Ore-sama never does things for no reason.”

Tezuka had to wonder at Atobe’s old habit of referring to himself in that way. He thought he might have given it up after so many years, but apparently it still slipped into his speech.

Unaware of Tezuka’s musings on his favourite pronoun, Atobe went on. “If you are free tomorrow night, Tezuka, I should like to meet with you. I have something to discuss with you.”

“With me?”

“Yes.”

“Discuss what?”

“Meet me for dinner or supper and I’ll tell you.”

A vague memory stirred in Tezuka’s mind. It was something Inui had said not too long ago… It suddenly made more sense now. This could be interesting.

“Supper would be better,” he said. “I may not get off work early enough for a proper dinner. Where do you want to meet?”

“Come to my place.” Atobe gave him his address, then asked, “You know where it is?”

“I think I do.”

“Very well. I’ll expect you tomorrow night, Tezuka.”

Atobe hung up.

Tezuka looked at the address he had scribbled on a piece of paper. Knowing Atobe, either this was going to be interesting or just plain tiresome. And if it had anything to do with what Inui had mentioned, it was likely to be both. He set it aside and picked up the article he had been reading earlier.

***

Atobe gently swirled the burgundy-coloured wine in his glass. Leaning back in his chair, he sipped it and looked at the man seated in the chair opposite him.

“If you don’t make a move soon, Tezuka, someone else will.” Receiving no answer to that, he went on. “-san’s not particularly pretty, but there’s something intriguing about her.” Another sip of wine. “If I didn’t have other business to occupy myself with, I might have considered her for myself. I’ve heard about her from . She’s from a good family, respectable. She has a good head on her shoulders; very sensible. She seems to have the breeding and manners of the upper crust –”

“I don’t suppose -san would appreciate such comments from you to another lady,” said Tezuka suddenly, feeling unable to keep listening to Atobe talk about how supposedly suitable might be for him.

Atobe seemed to freeze in place. They stared at each other for a few silent moments; Atobe almost willing Tezuka to speak on and Tezuka maintaining his silence.

Finally, Atobe asked, “How did you know?”

“I have four eyes, Atobe,” said Tezuka, dryly. “And there are benefits to knowing Inui,” he added, deciding not to let Atobe know that even though Inui had mentioned Atobe’s interest in a certain , it hadn’t occurred to him that it was ’s partner at first.

“I see.” Atobe placed his wine glass on the table. “Well then, at least I can be frank with you.”

“Please do.”

“We have been rivals for as long as we have known each other, Tezuka Kunimitsu. Perhaps it is time we tried to be friends – given our current interests.”

“Our current interests?”

Atobe raised an eyebrow. “Surely you are not ignorant of and -san’s relationship?”

“I know they are friends and colleagues.”

“That they are. And do you think that either of our girls would give up their friendship just because we don’t happen to get along that well?”

“Our girls? You presume much of my intentions, Atobe.”

“I may not have four eyes like you, but I have two and they see things well enough, Tezuka. Perhaps you can fool others, but not me.” Atobe placed his elbows on the armrests of the chair and intertwined his fingers. “In any case,” he went on, not giving the other man a chance to argue the point, “it appears that we’d probably have to see even more of each other in all sorts of situations to come, and I shouldn’t like to irritate or disappoint my girl by not getting along with a good friend’s other half.”

“Nor I,” said Tezuka. “But -san is not ‘mine,’ and nor, I think, is -san ‘yours,’ Atobe.”

A vaguely irritated look passed over Atobe’s face. Then the heir to the Atobe business empire tossed his hair lightly and a smirk replaced the irritation. “Tezuka, Tezuka. You do underestimate me – and yourself.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tezuka, without a hint of curiosity or puzzlement in his face.

He really needs to loosen up a bit, thought Atobe. Aloud, he said, “You don’t know? Come now, Tezuka… You and I are both men who usually – if not always – get what we want, either by hard work, circumstance or our own charms. We find our goals, aim and work towards them.”

“-san and -san are not goals that can be ‘got’ by mere hard work,” Tezuka said. “Or charm,” he added, seeing the words coming on Atobe’s lips. “I do not believe either of them is the type to be so easily won.”

“Makes the chase all the more interesting,” said Atobe, reaching for his wine glass again.

“Atobe,” began Tezuka.

The other man threw him an irritated glance. “Don’t get all good and wise on me, Tezuka!” he snapped. Downing the little remainder of the wine, he replaced the glass on the table and looked straight at Tezuka. “I’ll have you know, Tezuka, that I’m not kidding about . Not in the least. If you think she’s one of my flirtations or passing fancies, you’re wrong.”

Tezuka studied Atobe for a while. “You really care for -san?” he said, simply.

“Care?” cried Atobe, with a dry laugh. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Let this be the first friendly confidence between us, Tezuka, and get this straight: I love .”

The sudden admission took Tezuka by complete surprise. The way Atobe had been talking, he’d figured that Atobe was quite keen on ’s friend, but that Atobe could really be in love with her hadn’t occurred to him.

“Surprised, are you?”

“I have to admit that I am.”

“I expected you to be.”  Atobe leaned back once more, and closed his eyes, touching his fingers to his temples. “People think I’m heartless. No one expects me to have a heart, much less lose it – not at this age, at least. I’m only twenty-four and just out of university! But I lost it anyway.

“Having lost mine to her, I desire very much to win hers. And I am not a fool. I don’t in the least think that is going to swoon at my feet and kiss me just because I declare that I love her. I’m well aware that she is of more substance than that and will require more than just words and gifts.  It will require a good deal of effort. And this, Tezuka,” – he pointed at Tezuka, then at himself – “this meeting is an effort in that direction.”

“So it would seem.”

“You can’t say it doesn’t make sense. I know – and I’m sure you know too – that and are the types who treasure friendship incredibly. even more than , I think, from what has mentioned. It would either pain them or annoy them terribly if their boyfriends did not get along. So it would be in our best interest to start being friendly. It would make things easier on them, and the effort might impress them as well.”

Tezuka pushed up his glasses. “You’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, Atobe.”

Another smirk. “Of course. It merits the effort.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back to face the ceiling. “But that’s my effort. Yours, however… I believe the core question for you here is – do you really want ?”

Two pairs of eyes met.

“I cannot imagine anyone else in my life.”

***

Elenniel

Edited by Kashii