"They thought we were dating?" Neil asked, laughing as he watched the hair dresser mess around with Shishido's hair. "For god's sake, why?"

Shishido bit his lip, grinning, and held up his hand with the Irish friendship ring.

"No!" Neil shouted, laughing, running a hand through his blond hair. "Because of a little circle of silver?"

"Yep!" Shishido laughed. "And they stalked us in Malta."

"Oh, that's an obvious. Did they get pictures of us complete shit-faced and stumbling from pub to pub?"

"Oh, I hope not," Shishido winced. "Imagine the headlines. ‘Gay lovers Neil and Ryou celebrate their engagement by drinking each other under the table!'"

Neil laughed, "Oh, I'm sorry, Ryou! I broke your heart back then, didn't I? Well, you know as well as I do, we wouldn't have worked out!" He grabbed Shishido's hand and pretended to cry. "After all, there's only enough room in this relationship for one drama queen, and I would like to say that that queen," he looked away, still pretending to sob, "would have to be me!"

Shishido collapsed into giggles as the photographer came over. The hair stylist was giggling as well, but still managed to get Shishido's stubborn hair into the right style.

"Oh, my lovelies! Look at you both! Gorgeous! I applaud the work of the staff!" the photographer squealed. "Now then, I have some bad news. A reporter and photographer from some magazine with be coming in an nosing around the shoot. This was set up by the agency and the account. Something about publicity for the show."

Shishido and Neil exchanged confused glances; this had never happened before. Why now?

"Anyway, come, my pretties! Let us get this shoot going!" the photographer said, shooing them to the platform in front of the camera. Someone stuck in a CD and music filled the room with music.

"What is this?" Neil shouted, striking a pose as the photographer squealed at him and clicked furiously. He and Shishido began posing, hamming it up for the cameras, in a totally silly mood as they made exaggerated faces that made everyone on the set laugh.

"The soundtrack to, uhm…" one of the assistants picked up the CD, "Stealth. It's Ryou's."

"Like I'd know that," Shishido laughed, striking a classic Marilyn Monroe pose. "I haven't heard this CD since I bought it!"

"Oh, bother," the photographer snapped, straightening as one of his assistants showed in a reporter and another photographer. "Neil, Ryou, we're going to have to take a break. Go get some water."

Neil and Ryou laughed and made their way over to the refreshment table.

"You touch that coffee, Ryou, and I'll kill you!" the photographer shouted over his shoulder as he went to go play nice with the newcomers.

Shishido muttered and grabbed a bottle of water instead while Neil cackled and made himself some tea – ever the Briton. The reporter was talking to the photographer and was ignoring them, which was fine by Neil and Shishido.

"I wonder what would happen if I kissed you when the camera went off," Neil mused. "It'd be a big scandal."

"Too big of one," Shishido sighed. "I'd hate to have to deal with getting chased here as well as in Europe."

"Mm…" Neil said, sipping his tea. "So, are you going to stay here like you originally planned?"

"Probably not. I got a very…cold welcome home from some old friends," Shishido said mildly. "Chased by reporters, fans, and getting shouted out by four people who have no idea what they're shouting about."

"Ah, this is about your Choutarou," Neil said with a grin. "I want to meet this lad."

"Doubtful," Shishido muttered, taking a sip of his water.

"My lovelies!" the photographer called. "Come over here, please! The reporter wants to talk to my pretty ones."

Neil laughed, "Why does he always call us that?"

"Probably because he secretly yearns to bed us both," Shishido snickered.

The two of them made their way over to the platform again, ducking as assistants moved everywhere at once. The photographer waved them over and put his hands on their hips, pulling Shishido and Neil in close to him.

"These are my darlings! My favorite models in the entire agency!" the photographer gushed. "Neil Lucas and Ryou Shishido!"

"Long time no see, coward," Gakuto said, glaring darkly at Shishido.

"Oh fuck," Shishido breathed.

Neil leaned forward and frowned, "Know him, Ryou?"

"One of the four."

"Ooh…" Neil grinned. The photographer looked confused but got called away by one of his assistants. Neil glanced at Shishido, "Can I play with him, Ryou? He's so cute!"

Shishido shook his head, grinning. "Neil, your playing is going to get you in trouble one of these days."

"But he's cute! Look at him! So short and adorable!"

"I'm not short, you're just freakishly tall," Gakuto snapped.

"Oh! Look, Ryou! The cute little thing talks!" Neil squealed, grabbing Shishido's arm and bouncing a little. "If I poke it, will it talk more?"

"It'll probably bite you and give you rabies," Shishido said mildly, smirking at the outraged look on Gakuto's face. "After all, the Princess has been everywhere possible."

"You bit—"

"Yuck, I don't want rabies," Neil said, easily cutting Gakuto off.

Both Shishido and Neil had long ago perfected the art of easily overlooking and talking over people who they found to be below them. That Shishido was using it on Gakuto now amused him more than the situation warranted, but he truly couldn't help it. Talking over and ignoring the previously unavoidable and impossible to ignore was a thrill that Shishido never expected to get.

"Ryou? There's someone here to see you," one of the assistants said, touching Shishido's elbow to get his attention.

"Show him over," Shishido said, not taking his eyes off Gakuto. The assistant nodded and left. "Now then, Princess, are you here to do your job or are you going to yell at me some more for something that is none of your business."

Gakuto glowered, "Listen to me, you asshole, you—"

"Mukahi-san, please," Ohtori said from behind Shishido. "Just let it go. None of you really know what happened, and I would prefer to keep it that way."

"He hurt you!" Gakuto snapped.

Shishido stared in shocked at Ohtori, who was laidback in faded blue jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and an open button-down shirt thrown over it all. Casual, yet still purely Ohtori.

"Oh, so this is the famous Choutarou," Neil said, whistling. "Ryou, excellent taste!"

"Neil," Shishido said patiently, "back off."

"But he's gorgeous!" Neil said, circling the obviously uncomfortable Ohtori. "No wonder we didn't work out! He's possibly prettier than me!"

Shishido coughed into his fist to keep from laughing. "Neil."

"Can I watch you two in bed? The prettiness would be striking!"

"NEIL!" Shishido yelped. "Pervert!"

"Yes, well, you're very well acquainted with that," Neil flirted.

Shishido flushed hotly, noticing how incredibly uncomfortable Ohtori looked and that Gakuto was gaping like a trout.

"Neil, please leave and let me deal with this?" Shishido begged.

"Oh, tosh!" Neil sighed, lopping arms with Gakuto and his photographer. "Have fun, lovie!"

"I want to kill him," Shishido moaned, covering his face with his hands.

"He's your friend?" Ohtori asked hesitantly.

Shishido peaked at Ohtori between his fingers. "That is entirely debatable. At the best of times, he's my best friend, at the worst my competition, and many times, the meddling ex."

"So, all of Hyotei in one," Ohtori smiled shakily.

Shishido dropped his hands from his face and smiled weakly, "Yeah, I'd suppose so."

Ohtori nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You look…good…Shishido-san."

Shishido's heart twinged in pain at the formality. "You look pretty good yourself, O-Ohtori."

Ohtori ran a shaking hand through his hair, looking away. "This is not going the way I had planned," he muttered ruefully.

Shishido cleared his throat, "Glad that makes two of us."

Ohtori looked nervous. "Atobe-san told me you'd be here today."

"Atobe is meddling," Shishido sighed. "Some things will never change."

Ohtori smiled and nodded, "I wanted to see you again, so I asked him to give me the address. Last night…"

"Oh, that disaster?" Shishido sighed, shaking his head. "What a welcome home…"

"They were all out of bounds," Ohtori said.

"Don't defend them. They don't need to excuse themselves, most of what they said was right," Shishido muttered wryly. "I'm glad you've had so many people supporting you and looking out for you."

"They were out of bounds," Ohtori repeated fiercely. "What happened between us is none of their business."

"Friends think everything that happens in your life is their business."

"Not us," Ohtori said unhappily. "Not then, and…and not now."

"Now?" Shishido asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ohtori took a deep breath and let it go. "I was wondering if you'd come to dinner with me. There's a festival tonight, and I…I remember that you liked festivals. I figured you probably haven't been to one since you left Japan, so…"

"Ohtori?"

"Yes?"

"You're babbling."

"S-sorry, it's just—"

"When?"

Ohtori stared, "What?"

Shishido smiled, "When do you want to go?"

"You'll go with me?" Ohtori asked, eyes wide.

"Mmhm," Shishido smiled. "I'm sure Atobe gave you my cell number and address, so I don't need to give you those, but all I need to know is when, and what I should wear."

"Uh, dinner at about six-thirty, and then the festival? Casual clothes?" Ohtori stammered out, shocked.

"Sounds good."

"I'll uhm, pick you up at six?"

Shishido nodded.

"Okay, then," Ohtori said, laughing a little. "I'll see you then."

Shishido grinned, "Ohtori?"

"Yes?" Ohtori asked, almost snapping to attention.

"It's good to see you."

"Yeah…it's… It's really good to see you too, Shishido-san," Ohtori said, ducking his head and grinning before leaving.

~

Shishido had gone through his entire closet – a very large closet at that – before giving in and calling Neil for help. He had exactly 40 minutes before Ohtori showed up, and he couldn't decide which shirt would go best with what pair of pants. Did he want to wear leather pants, or did he want his jeans with the rips and holes? He didn't want to come across desperate, but he really wanted to spend time Ohtori.

He was hopeless.

Neil had come in and just laughed at him before sitting on Shishido's bed and playing with his pillows.

"Be helpful, or leave," Shishido finally cried, throwing a shirt at Neil.

"Ryou, beautiful, just…stop. You're acting way too much like a chick. Dress down, be you. It might be hard to remember who you were before all this modeling, but you can do it," Neil said with a smile.

Shishido plopped down on the floor, burying his face in his hands. "I never got over him. I've never stopped loving him, thinking about him. Every day I always wonder what he's up to, how he is, if he'll ever talk to me again after I hurt him so."

"From what you've said, he was the one hurting you," Neil pointed out.

"We hurt each other."

"Fine, you hurt each other. And now you both have another chance," Neil said. "We didn't work out because I was fighting with a ghost. And hell, what a drop dead gorgeous ghost!"

Shishido laughed softly.

"So, pick yourself up off that floor, Ryou, pick out a shirt and jeans, and get ready for your first not-so-first date. You're going to a carnival."

"Festival."

"Same thing?"

"Relatively."

"He'll be here in twenty."

"Shit!" Shishido swore, getting up and grabbing his worn, faded, and slightly ripped jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt with some band's name going up the sleeves.

Neil watched in amusement as Shishido changed frantically and pulled his long hair up into a ponytail. "You look good, Ryou. Almost making me jealous of Ohtori."

"We didn't date," Shishido snapped, grabbing a white t-shirt and pulling it over his head. "We fell into bed, fucked like rabbits, then dated a bit which was more like hanging out and delaying the sex, and then we just fucked some more before we both broke it off."

"Of course, we still sleep together," Neil said, smiling fondly as he flopped onto his stomach. "But that's all going to change, isn't it, now that he's back?"

"Neil, I don't know what's going to happen," Shishido said, sitting on the bed and running his hand through Neil's short blond hair. "But I do know that I will always be here for you. You, my friend, need to go back and play the field."

"You're cruel," Neil pouted, turning his back to Shishido. "I ignore you."

Shishido laughed and kissed the top of Neil's head just as the buzzer rang. "Okay, now, I'm leaving. You, Neil, will go hit the clubs and bars and find someone charming to bed and then tell me all about tomorrow, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah…go. Your Prince Charming is waiting," Neil sighed.

"Green isn't your color, doll," Shishido laughed, grabbing his black leather jacket, wallet, and cell before disappearing out the bedroom door to put his shoes on and join Ohtori downstairs for his date.

~

"Dinner was a nightmare," Ohtori groaned as they walked through the festival, watching children running around, some with little goldfish in bags, others with painted masks.

Shishido laughed, "It was, but it was a very amusing nightmare."

Ohtori stared at Shishido, who grinned back. "You're insane."

"I pose in front of cameras all day, wearing the most ridiculous outfits on the face of the planet with gallons of glitter, and a photographer who insists on calling me his ‘lovely one.' Yeah, I'd say that makes me insane," Shishido grinned.

Ohtori laughed and shook his head. "And I'm just the boring one who plays music for fun and work."

"I'd love to hear you play again," Shishido said with a smile. "Let me know when I can again."

"O-of course," Ohtori stammered, flushing.

Shishido laughed, "So, tell me what the others are up to. You're a musician, Atobe's running a company…"

"Pretending to run," Ohtori corrected with a grin. "He has several people who answer to him, and they're the ones who run the company, though Atobe-san keeps a close eye on them."

"Ah, that figures."

"Jiroh is pretty much the same as Atobe-san, only Atobe-san helps Jiroh keep an eye on his company. Mukahi-san is a reporter for an entertainment magazine, and lives with Oshitari-san. The two have been together for almost eight years now."

"What does Oshitari do?" Shishido asked, curious as they walked down one of the several lanes of booths.

"He's a romance writer, actually. One of his books is about to become a movie as well."

Shishido laughed, "Oh, that fits very nicely."

"Taki runs his father's company with a board of trustees, and Hiyoshi runs his own dojo now. Kabaji owns an upscale art gallery."

Shishido raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Very interesting."

"When we first started seeing you in the magazines, everyone was shocked," Ohtori said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Atobe-san just laughed and said he knew it had only been a matter of time before you gave in to the modeling scouts. Mukahi-san was furious that you had left us all for some job in the States when you could have had the same job here."

Shishido sighed, "It was more a matter of…timing, I suppose."

"I listened to what you said, Shishido-san," Ohtori murmured. "And you were right. Music is where I belong."

"It always has been where you've belonged," Shishido said matter-of-factly.

"And you, Shishido-san?" Ohtori asked suddenly. "Where do you belong?"

Shishido sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, making Ohtori laugh. "What?"

"You still have the same habit!"

"What habit?" Shishido frowned.

"You rub the bridge of your nose when you're thinking about something, nervous, or have a headache. Usually it's just when you're thinking about things," Ohtori said, smiling.

"Oh, uh…"

"It's cute," Ohtori said softly, smiling fondly at Shishido before ducking his head and looking away. "I thought this festival would be more than just merchants and games for kids."

"Is it ever?" Shishido asked, charmed. He had never known he'd had a habit like that, but it made sense why Ohtori in the past would smile and kiss his nose whenever he'd been studying too hard.

"This night has been a complete bust," Ohtori sighed.

"No it hasn't," Shishido grinned, letting Ohtori lead them both out of the crowds and away from the festival.

"It hasn't?" Ohtori asked, confused.

"Of course not!" Shishido said with a laugh. "I spent it with you."

Ohtori flushed hotly and Shishido had to bite his lip to keep from laughing too hard. "I…Shishido-san… you… I…"

Shishido grinned and kissed Ohtori on the mouth. "It's late, Ohtori, and I should probably get home."

"Oh, uh…right. So, I'll…see you around?"

"Oh, of course! You have my cell, so I expect you to call," Shishido grinned.

"Oh, I… I will," Ohtori smiled brightly.

"Oh, and Ohtori?"

"Yes, Shishido-san?"

"The name's Ryou!"

The End

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